Shards of a Past
by GLaDOS-01
Summary: Apparently, hitting one's head hard enough can make weird things happen... Like randomly appearing on the Citadel, of all places. Who knew? Rated M for just in case, BTW.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs, so don't sue me, 'kay?**

**A/N: This is probably going to be repetitive for you as a beginning, but I wanted to keep it relatively realistic… Anyway, enjoy!**

I walked slowly through the fallen leaves and trees, moving silently naturally. I was listening to my mp3 player with my hands in my pockets, staring at the ground. What I was doing other than that, was thinking. I did so quite often, more so than I spoke aloud most of the time. What I was walking for, I had little idea, but I had had the urge to do so for about an hour before I'd left my house. I brought along my backpack and necessities I always had with me, such as my wallets, my phone, my player, etc.

Without thinking, I slammed into a tree, face first. My hand snapped to my face as I fell back, the pain exploding through my nose and forehead. I wasn't bleeding, but that didn't mean I wasn't in pain.

"Ooww…" I muttered, rubbing the impacted areas of my face for a few moments before opening my eyes and looking up. Oddly enough, what I saw was something completely unexpected. So unexpected, in fact, that my mind went completely blank for a few moments as if shutting down.

The trees were all gone, replaced by white walls, the leaves by clean tiled floor. The soft breeze was now gone, along with the very scent of the fresh air and plant life. In their place was recycled air and quiet walkways, currently occupied by strange beings. Turians…? Salarians…? Asari…?  
>My heart did something akin to a back flip and my breathing came out quickly, growing more rushed as the seconds ticked by, yet still keeping relatively quiet. My brain decided it was a good time to freak out, so my fight or flight reflex kicked in, sending adrenaline through my body, causing it to shake.<p>

The only words to cross my now-shattered brain, was, _I'm on the Citadel._

**A/N: Sorry it's so short, I promise not to do it again! Although this may be a strange or even boring (It is in my eyes) beginning, but I'll do my best to fix that as I go through my story… **

**Review, Please. It really helps, you know. ;)**


	2. A Confused Reunion

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs; please spare me the suing, okay?**

**Stilphyell: thank you for reviewing this, you were the only one. I am sorry it was so short, so I'm going to try and get this chapter much longer. Thanks! :)**

**A/N: Okay, so this is a mostly actual chapter, so it won't be stupidly short. Trust me, I hate that too. Anyway, let's get right to the story!**

Get Used To It

Unable to even think of working my mouth, I blinked and rubbed my eyes hurriedly, hoping I was only hallucinating. Once my eyes opened once more, I found I had no such luck; I was still standing, quite stupidly, in the middle of an alien-filled walkway. I got a few sideways glances, but for the most part, I was unnoticed. Whether it was due to my wearing an odd set of clothes that were very un-ME-like or how I had a seemingly heavier backpack on, I wasn't sure. But I was sure the odd gauntlet-things on my arms were from nothing I'd ever seen or heard of.

Shaking myself out of it, I looked back up- just in time to see a girl leaping at me before she collided into me, knocking me back. She was very excited, if that was what the laughing meant. Moments later, she pulled back, grinning widely and gripped my shoulders. I stared in disbelief at my friend, Joya, who looked very relieved.

"Thank god you're here man; I was, like, really freaking out for a minute there." She said, gesturing around with her hand. I smiled back, although I was still in quite a stupor, having little idea of what to say or do.

"Yeah, I… this is freaking the crap out of me right now, so…" I managed, looking around uncomfortably in a silent way of awkwardness.

"We need to get out of here man, I'm getting creeped out by these… people." She muttered, grabbing my metal-covered wrist and pulling me away somewhere.

I didn't care where at the moment; I just wanted to get somewhere far away from a crowd…

…

Some crowd… I thought, looking around the commons Joya had led me to. A crowd was surrounding part of it, seemingly watching a competition of some sort. Maybe a fight or something?

"What's happening?" she whispered, pushing against my back to force me forward, through the crowd. I managed to weave for the most part though, since I'd gotten plenty of practice form the crowded hallways of our high school.

Damn, just thinking about home was depressing me! I'd never get to see my siblings again or joke around with my friends- hell; I'd never get to visit my old teachers anymore! Sure I always wanted to go to another universe like in my fics, but… Now, it was just so overwhelming…

"Let's go punk! Come on!" I snapped back to reality to see Kate, another of my friends, in a fighting pose, staring down a random turian. She looked unruffled by his comment as well, true to her brooding personality.

The turian launched himself at her, but before he could even take a swing, she crouched low and launched herself upwards, towards him, slamming into his gut. He dropped to the ground, wheezing slightly. Kate went to walk away and even turned towards me and Joya. Our eyes locked and she smirked. She took a step towards us, but the turian was up by then and charging at her again. She turned gracefully, ducking midway and dodging his attack. Next thing even I knew, she slammed her elbow into the back of his neck, knocking him out.

"I told you to leave me alone." She muttered, before turning back to me and Joya. "We need to beat it before the po-po show up." She said, striding to us. I was still out of it from everything going on, but I did agree with her on that one.

We got away discreetly enough, but through all that was going on, I couldn't help but wonder about something that'd been bothering me for a while…

How the hell did I-let alone Joya and Kate- get here?

**A/N: So yeah, that's the second chapter. Before you ask, I am going to try and update these when I can, along with my other story. And again, sorry this one's short as well, but I wanted to get a basis and slight personality quirks out before I really buckled down and ground out these updates, you know? Crappy excuse, right? XP**

**Review or PM me for your opinion or any questions you may have! ;)**


	3. A Wierd Cloaked Guy?

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs, so I'd appreciate you not suing me. Thanks.**

**Liege Lord: Yeah, I hope it wasn't Garrus either, but you never know. Anyway, I think there's more to come- maybe even some *gasps for effect* surprises! **

**Hopelessly Blue: It's alright; I know a lot of people only read my other story. That's why I've mostly just focused on that one; not to mention I'm just getting to the good stuff. Anyway, I'm glad you thought it was believable, and yes, I may try to chat with a few asari once the shock passes over but please, don't rush me! XD **

**A/N: yea, another late update! Wait that's bad isn't it? I know, and I'm sorry, but I've not been focusing much on this story sadly enough. I will try to do better!**

I sat on the park bench in the Presidium, trying not to stare at all of the aliens walking by. I could tell they were trying not to stare at me and Joya as well, what without strange clothes and gauntlet-thingies. Still, most of them just plain stared at us and it made me uncomfortable; sure, I'd always been stared at back home but this kind of staring was different. It just made me feel like gravity was heavier on my shoulders and that I was being watched or something.

"We've got a bit of a problem you two." I looked up to see Kate walking back to us. She'd been working on one of the public terminals since I was too spaced out to try and Joya wasn't as much of a Mass Effect geek as Kate and I.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Joya said, raising her brows and leaning forward just as she always did when she was starting to get peeved. "We were just zapped into a video game, stuck in weird clothes, got these things attached to our arms and _now_ you say we have a problem? Wonderful." She sighed, running a hand through her bangs. I knew better than to try and comfort her, knowing she didn't like to be touched much when she was annoyed anyway, so I just looked to Kate.

"We're five years before the start of Mass Effect one." She stated, causing Joya's mouth to drop open and me to drop my head into my hands.

"No fucking way!" Joya hissed, turning her hands up in disbelief. I sighed heavily and stared at the ground, figuring we might as well just get killed; there was no way we would survive on our own for five freaking years!

"And we've been reported to C-Sec by that asshole turian that bothered me before." Kate added, making me blow out a bitter laugh. Great. Now we were wanted muggers or whatever that turian said we were.

I forced myself to stand, strapping on my backpack once again. Joya looked up at me, catching my wrist before I started walking off. I looked down at her, still saying nothing. I wasn't usually so quiet but with everything going on I couldn't get myself out of the shock quite yet.

"Where are you going?" she asked, also standing. I gestured to a door leading back down to the wards.

"We can't be in the open." Was all I said before walking towards the door, leaving the others to follow behind.

…

"Where are we even going?" Joya questioned, looking around with a bit of a scrunched face. I wasn't quite sure. Even though I'd played the trilogy loyally and read plenty of fics depicting just this sort of situation I had little idea of where to go seeing as how everything was larger and more crowded than it had been in the game. Hell, there were more shops and vendors than I could count as we walked through the wards.

"Hey! Stop them!" I stopped, somehow feeling that order directed towards us. An instant later I was slammed in the back and thrown to the floor. The person on top of me paused for a moment before scrambling off of me. I turned over and looked up to see the two smiling faces of friends I hadn't thought I'd ever see again; Ike Blackwell and Lucien Kline.

They pulled my stunned self up and I saw Joya and Kate standing still as well, obviously as surprised as I was. Before we could speak though, I saw two C-Sec officers running towards us, looking quite angry. Lucien looked back as well and cursed, grabbing my hand and dragging me away as the others ran with us.

"Where the hell did you two come from? And why are they chasing you?" Joya called, unhappy with our current circumstances. Ike chuckled as if to himself and pulled out what looked like a holo-card. He thrust it into my free hand with a grin.

"Some weird cloaked guy told me to give that to Lexi but don't ask me why. Before we were done with the conversation these C-Sec guys yelled out something about accomplices working with that hooded guy and ran after us!" he answered, seemingly annoyed and amused at the same time. He always was the most cheerful one of our group.

Yet still, how did they get here? And from what I could tell they had gauntlets like mine Kate and Joya's. What the hell was going on?

…

"Whew… finally… lost them…!" Lucien panted, finally letting go of my hand. We were all out of breath but at least we were out of danger for the moment. I looked down at each of our gauntlets and saw that they were the same type as well but had certain quirks in order to tell them apart.  
>Mine had two royal stripes; one around my wrist and another bisecting it, running along my arm for about three inches. Joya's was the same, only she had sapphire blue. Kate's were crimson and Ike's was a pretty emerald green. Lucien's was a surprisingly captivating orange. All in all, we all looked like some badass team, what with our mysterious clothing and advanced-looking gauntlets.<p>

How many times in life had I been able to lay claim to looking as cool as we did? Zero. That's how seldom I use the words 'badass' to describe myself- let alone my friends. In any case, I caught my breath and looked around to see we were in a relatively isolated area at the moment. I looked down at the card in my hand and brought it up in order to read it easier.

_The Exodus is yours._

I simply stared at the card for a few moments before turning it over in my hand to see what looked like directions. I couldn't say I was excited to see what this meant or what exodus it was talking about but there really wasn't much of a choice. Maybe this guy knew how we got here or at least had some information we didn't.

"So what's it for?" Ike asked, walking to my side and looking down at the card. I looked toward the direction the card's directions were pointing and furrowed my brows. How did it know we would end up here? The directions started at the spot I was on, even. How creepy.

"Directions to something…" I muttered, walking forward.

…

"So… who's going to talk to the creepy old man?" Ike muttered lowly, staring at the hundred-year-old man sitting at the desk in front of the door the directions said we were supposed to go through. Kate walked forward then and stepped straight up to the old man. I kept by her side though, ready to try and get past him.

He looked up at us and widened his eyes in realization. I couldn't say why but it looked like he recognized us from somewhere, what with that look in his eyes. It was weird yet slightly relieving at the same time. Then again, if he knew us but we didn't know him how were we supposed to know how to speak to him?

"Ah, you're back! I've been wondering how long it would take." he said, standing on his feet. I was surprised his weak-looking body didn't just crumble to dust with how old this guy looked. And what did he mean by 'back'? We never left him in the first place.  
>"Follow me." he said, swaying slightly as he went through the door behind his desk, leaving us to follow.<p>

I furrowed my brows and took a breath, having little idea as to what was going on. Still, we followed the old man through a long hallway, down two sets of stairs and through another long hallway. Once to the last door the old man asked me for the card. I gave it to him and he slid it through the door's scanner, unlocking it, before giving it back to me. I blinked as the door opened to revel what looked like a hangar of some sort. I could even see space outside the huge room, giving me the impression it was a dock.

We all followed the old man to the lone ship across the walkway, seeing how huge it was. I felt my mouth drop open as we all stood, staring at the sleek ship. I saw the large letters in its side and my eyes almost became saucers at what I saw.

"Exodus…" I breathed.

**A/N: Yea, more people! And a ship, it seems; isn't that the coolest? Anyway, review or PM me with your comments or whatever it is you review about. ;)**


	4. The Exodus

**Disclaimer: I only own my awesome group of OCs, so I would appreciate not being sued.**

**Liege Lord: I'm sure they'll do something soon, maybe even have their own 'styles' matching up with their colors or something- I really don't know. But for now, let's just watch and see what happens, eh? :) And I don't know about that slipspace drive, but I'm pretty sure the ship will be cool in its own right. ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: I will try to update this more often, along with my other story, okay? And if I can't get a chapter our in one, I'll probably get an update in the other, if you know what I mean. About that 'misfits' thing? Yeah, we're definitely misfits! XP I will try to make this fic more lighthearted than the other one as well, so no need to worry about too much drama- not yet, anyway! XD**

**PS: Why don't you make a profile or something? It could be easier for you, you know. ;)**

**A/N: Anyway, Let's get to the story!**

"Exodus…" I breathed. The ship was unbelievable: how could this possibly set up so seamlessly? How could the old man have seen us before now? How could this even belong to us? It looked so advanced…

"Jesus Christ in a bottle of whiskey! This is one huge ship!" Ike exclaimed, as the old man departed, seemingly not even hearing his comment. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.

"Let's go inside!" Lucien leaped for the airlock and began struggling to find a way to open it. We all converged on him and I pushed him out of the way to get a better look at it. There was a small slot in the side, just big enough for the holo-card to fit into- like an ATM machine, almost.

Taking the clue, I took the card out and slid it into the slot. After s few seconds of tense silence, a beep emanated from the door and it opened moments later. We all stepped in as a voice came out of the speakers, scaring us half to death.

"Welcome to The Exodus, everyone." It even sounded human-like, too… I actually felt a shiver of both dread and excitement go up and down my spine.

Only seconds later, the inner airlock door opened and I was pushed to the front of the group. I chose not to say anything and slowly stepped through the doors, into the actual ship. I felt myself swallow once more, seeing how large it was on the inside before my mouth dropped open once more in awe.

The next thing I knew, a floating purple machine thing popped into my field of vision. It caused me to jump to high I actually fell into the others that were behind me, tensing up.

"Exodus is now activated and awaiting orders, Captain!" it cheerfully stated, its single glowing eye staring at me. I widened my eyes and moved to the side, seeing its gaze follow me.

"I'm not the Cap-" I began to say, only to be cut off by Kate.

"Yes she is." I looked at her incredulously: I really didn't like being put on the spot so suddenly. I wasn't qualified to be a damned Captain of anything! I wasn't even qualified to be a passenger, this thing was so-

"Yeah, why not?" my inner ranting was cut off by Lucien. He smiled at my expression of borderline horror. "You're good at keeping people in line and you really are the most mature of our group." I looked at Kate once more, almost pleadingly. She only put her hands up and shrugged.

"I'm the violent one, not the mature one." She stated, making me look to Joya. She also put her hands up and stepped backwards.

"Hey, don't look at me: I will not be good at this and unless y'all want to die, I suggest you pick someone else." She said, causing me to turn to my last hope: Ike. When I did though, he shook his head.

"Nope, don't even try: you know I can't even take care of myself." He smiled. I couldn't exactly say I was so good at that either. I looked to the ground and let out a despairing sigh.

"Some friends you are…" I grumbled, getting them to laugh. Well, everyone but Kate: she never laughs.

Ike put an arm around my shoulder and wiped an eye, having had laughed the hardest. I glared at him from the corner of my eye, trying to ignore the floating thing that was still staring at me. I couldn't keep myself from shifting uncomfortably, either.

"Don't worry about it, you'll do fine- better than any of us could, that's for sure." Ike grinned, only rubbing it in. they knew I had never been good on the figures of authority I'd had in my life, so I feel as if this was their getting back at me for griping about them before.

"We don't have all day, Captain; we must give you all a tour!" the cheery… I'll call it a Bot… said, the lower half of its eye going away as if to emulate a smile. Strange…

"Ah… sure…" I said, pushing Ike's arm off of me.

And off we were, going to go touring.

…

Unfortunately, in the end, we hadn't gotten to take in much of what the bot said since it had talked quickly and made us speed-walk (literally) to keep up. Still, it was a huge ship with lots of room and plenty of things to occupy ourselves with. Once the tour had been over, I could keep myself from wondering whether this ship was so large and full of stuff (half of it I couldn't even comprehend) to host a good sized crew in order to help against the Reapers in some big way or if it was big just so whoever gave it to us could show off or something.

Still, I was proud to have it instead of some random run-down outdated model (even if it would've been free of creepy bots and such). Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention?

"You need to check your terminal for new messages, Captain." We have an AI. And her name was Thea (said like thee-uh, for those of you who can't pronounce things well). I don't capitalize that because she didn't tell me whether it was an actual name or if it stood for something. Either way, I liked how it sounded.  
>"Captain, you need to-"<p>

"I know!" I groaned, looking around, trying to find just what she had mentioned. Can't a girl find anything around here? Just as I thought that, Jill (the bot from earlier) glided over to me. I looked to her, managing not to feel as crept out as I had before. Thea had told me the bot was supposed to be my 'helper' until I found a secretary or something.

"Your CIC terminal is by the map over there, Captain." Jill said happily, looking over in the direction of the large map in the middle of the room. I hummed slightly and went over to the terminal.

Luckily, it automatically activated when I got near it: that would spare me another twenty minutes of trying to figure the damned thing out. The layout was pretty simple; it was very similar to Shepard's terminal in ME2 so I had little trouble in navigating to the 'Messages' folder (or whatever it was called).

I began looking through them, hoping I wouldn't have to reply to any…

_**Message 01: Priority**_

_-CIC and bridge crew dossiers;_

_Jake Blankenship_

_Cornelius Winters_

_William Castro_

_Liselle –_

_Lira Aventis_

_Jilan Trios_

_Dustil Trios_

_Ruso Vallokius_

_Vegrull Tyzuris_

_Zagram Iran_

_-Engineering crew dossiers;_

_Craig Beckett_

_Iilo'kare vas Seta_

_(A/N: if you or one of your made up characters wants to be in my crew then send me a message or review. You DO NOT need to have written a story or anything to be a part of this.)_

I stopped before I got even more confused and irritated than I already was. I looked to Jill and raised a brow questioningly before gesturing to the terminal.

"So what, am I supposed to get all of these people to join us or something?" I asked, feeling the muscle in my cheek twitch as if to accent my mood. Jill was quiet for a moment before Thea cut in.

"Yes. Do you expect me to take care of everything throughout our travels?" she asked, making me pause. I then sighed, slumping against the counter my terminal was on, closing my eyes tiredly.

"No, I just…" I sighed once more, as was my habit, pushing a hand through my hair as I opened my eyes. "It'll be hard and even if we do get this laundry list of people to join on how am I supposed to look after them all?" I asked, beginning to pace slowly in front of the terminal.

"That is for you to decide; there are plenty of opportunities you may be able to take part in." the AI answered, offering no real advice.

With nothing left to do, I glanced around to see the others were already gone. They probably went off to have _fun_. No doubt they didn't want to take the Captain's seat in order to have as little responsibility as possible. And so they wouldn't have to figure out what the hell to do all the time.

"My scan indicates your body is in dire need of rest, Captain. Your quarters are located on deck one." Thea's comment brought me out of my irritated inner dialogue, making me blink to refocus.

With a yawn, I let Jill lead me to the elevator, too tired to come up with some witty remark to Thea's invading my privacy with a _scan_, of all things.

Freaking AIs…

**A/N: that could've gone better, but I hope you guys are okay with the story so far. Oh, and if you really want your names (or you) in my crew then just review or send me a message. You don't have to have a story or a huge detailed thing on you or your character, just give me an outline or whatever. ;)**


	5. An Armory In Need

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I just got me OCs. What about it?**

**Liege Lord: Yes, we apparently have an AI; pretty cool, right? XP And yes actually, I was thinking about SB's VI assistant when I began writing Jill out. I hadn't intended for her to come out the way she did, but I like her all the same. I'm not totally sure what's going to happen with recruiting everyone, but I definitely know a few things you may like! XD anyway, thanks for the review as always. ;) **

**Hopelessly Blue: Wow, you're giving me a challenge, eh? Well I think I may just take you up on that! XD I can't wait to see what I could do with that though, given how unorthodox it is (in a good way, of course). Oh but still, at least tell me what gender you are just so I can tease you about it! Wait, that gives me an idea! XP**

**A/N: Let's just get to it, shall we?**

"Who are we here for again?" Lucien asked, looking around the relatively small town. I yawned, having had been forced to get out of bed insanely early in the morning by a certain AI before looking down at the display screen over my gauntlet.

Thea had helped me figure out how to use some of its functions voluntarily rather than just gut instinct, so I was at least able to download what information we had. The display screen itself was projected out of a small circular indent on the back of my hand, making it easier to access as well.

"Some armor and weapons experts, apparently… ah… Brandon Kerensky, Isaac Stone and Tull Herkus. Two humans and a turian?" I muttered to myself the last part but dismissed it when Ike made a humming sound as if thinking.

"Why would we need three people for just the armory? Isn't one enough?" he asked, to which I shrugged. Thea's voice then came over the comm (also located within our gauntlets).

"The armory is larger than you would think, Mr. Blackwell. The weapons and armor within must be maintained, upgraded, repaired when damaged and replaced or recycled if useless. Armorers will also need to understand each weapon, how they work individually and be proficient in the use of Mods. Three stations are the minimum requirement." She was too much like EDI.

"Fine, whatever." Ike groaned, as childish as ever. I yawned once more before rubbing my eyes to try and get the dryness out of them. I hated having dry eyes.

…

A half-an-hour later we found ourselves in a bar. We had asked around about the whereabouts of the three possible recruits and everyone had said they could usually be found there. I told Ike and Joya to see if they could find any other information about them while Lucien volunteered to get us some drinks (non-alcoholic of course; we were all under age). Kate stayed by my side and pointed to a group of just who we were looking for: good thing Thea gave me photos with their dossiers or we'd be asking everyone we saw who they were.

We walked up to the three-man group then, and I couldn't help but brace myself for the impossible story of how I came to want them to work on the Exodus. Once to them they looked up at me and Kate with sullen expressions. I cleared my throat habitually before taking a breath and staring them each straight in the eye.

The turian was the first to speak up.

"You need something?" he asked. I looked at him and nodded only once, tensing only slightly.

"I've heard you three are experts with weapons and armor?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow. I couldn't have these guys thinking I was some pushover. It was the bronze-haired human who spoke next; Isaac, if I remembered right.

"Depends. Who's asking?" he questioned.

"Captain Alexis Ivanova of the Exodus." I was going to have to get used to that one. Seeing their distantly interested expressions, I chose to continue if only to get this over with. "I have a proposition, if you're interested." I said. The quiet one, Brandon, gestured to the empty seats across their small table.

Kate and I sat down just as Lucien came over with our drinks. He smiled as he handed us our drinks before sitting down on my other side himself. Tull, the turian, leaned forward slightly with a deep look about him.

"And what is this proposition of yours?" he queried lowly. It made me feel almost as if this were a drug deal or something but I shook it off, hoping these guys weren't the criminal types.

"My ship needs you three, I won't lie. The armory is extensive and full of advanced models of weapons and armor but I can't do anything with them if I don't have crew members to look after them." I stated, finding myself thanking goodness for my silver-tongue: it really came in hand when I needed it.

The three in front of us were quiet as if thinking deeply, so I took a few drinks from whatever it was that Lucien ordered. It was actually quite tasty and refreshing, actually. It looked like soda but it wasn't carbonated only adding to the strange feel- even the mugs holding the drinks were interesting to look at.

Soon, Isaac spoke up once more, getting my attention.

"If what you say is true then we'll help you out. But if you're lying-" he was cut off when a sudden gunshot went off. We all jumped up and I whirled around to see an angry drunk of a Krogan. He was yelling mostly intelligible things as Kate, Lucien and I crept closer to possible cover.

The Krogan's gaze jumped to mine then, as if sensing I was staring at him and he charged. Luckily, I was pushed out of the way by Kate before I could freeze up and get myself killed. Instead of me though, he smashed into the metal wall, leaving a dent in its hard surface. I swallowed hard, feeling my heartbeat speed up and adrenaline shoot through my system.

Before I knew it, he was charging again, roaring at me like a raging beast. I rolled away from his path just in time, leaving the Krogan to slam into another drunk, knocking him out immediately. I suddenly felt my arm heating up, the core of the intensity at my palm. I took the hint and aimed my open hand at the Krogan as he turned to face me once more.

Just as he charged, I felt the power peak, causing my arm to vibrate strongly from the sheer force of whatever this gauntlet had. Seconds before the Krogan slammed into me, I felt myself push mentally outward, through the gauntlet, launching the built up power at the alien. An instant later, the beam of pure, white-hot energy slammed into the Krogan, throwing him back, into the far wall.

I was still for a few moments, making sure he was completely out before relaxing and letting myself fall back. The adrenaline still coursed through my veins, urging my shaking body to twitch every now and then as I struggled to catch my breath: that beam seemed to have literally taken my own energy to fuel itself.

"Damn…" I sat up once more, looking up at the others. Kate helped me up and I regarded our three possible recruits evenly, trying not to completely freak out.

Before I could say anything, Isaac stepped up and took my hand, shaking it. Tull and Brandon did the same as if to affirm something to me. I wasn't quite sure what it meant until Isaac spoke up.

"We'll definitely join you, Captain!" he stated, grinning. So they now believed me because of the fight? I suppose the gauntlet was something of a mystery, but I was pretty sure they were interested in the whole energy beam part.

"When should we meet up?" Brandon asked, finally confirming for me that he could, in fact, speak. I took a breath, still a little shaky, and handed them a datapad.

"Directions to the ship. We'll leave tomorrow morning." I muttered, feeling my body's need for rest. Maybe that beam really did take it out of me…

Ike came over then and handed me a new datapad. I looked down at it and saw that it was full of information on the three new crew members of the Exodus.

…

I sighed, finally leaving the armory after spending two hours talking with our new members. The armory actually had been pretty large, but it certainly wasn't full; no doubt whoever gave us this ship wanted us to 'make it our own', so to speak. In any case, I made my way to the elevator, ignoring Jill's constant following me, and pushed the symbol for deck one.

Once there, I walked into my quarters and went straight to my desk where I'd left the datapad Ike gave me the day before. The three new members had already told me a little about themselves but I wanted to make sure I had everything down and that they didn't 'forget' to mention anything. I felt a little guilty, being so paranoid, but I didn't want to get any spies: I hated being watched even by normal people.

And so, I began reading the data within the pad…

_-Isaac Stone_

_ DOB: July 6__th__, 2156_

_ Previous Occupation: Mercenary, worked under Aria T'Loak of Omega_

_ Specialties: Weapon/Armor Mods and upgrades_

_-Brandon Kerensky_

_ DOB: June 26__th__, 2157_

_ Previous occupation: Alliance, left after two years, became a contract mercenary under Aria T'Loak of Omega._

_ Specialties: Weapons, offensive systems_

_-Tull Herkus_

_ DOB: August 8__th__, 2150_

_ Previous occupation: Freelance mercenary, last contract linked with Aria T'Loak of Omega_

_ Specialties: Defensive systems, armor, hand-to-hand_

There wasn't much there, and I couldn't say I was very comfortable having former Aria workers under me, but it wasn't my main concern at the moment. They had already told me they used to be mercenaries and had gotten out of it only a week before I picked them up. With that information, I wasn't so sure their former employer would just let them be.

Still, I had little choice but to wade it out and keep up with finding crew members. Thea was certain that was the priority as well, so I may as well have listened to the super-computer-with-a-conscious.

With a small sigh, I stood from my chair and went to the window nearby, looking out at the passing stars. There was nothing to do at the moment but look ahead and try not to get killed too soon. Looking to my bed down the small set of steps, I blinked slowly, groggily.

As soon as I got some sleep, anyway…

**A/N: Sorry for the quickness of the pace, but I had to get this out before I passed out from exhaustion. Review or PM me and tell me if you want to be a part of the Exodus!**


	6. Is Tuchanka Such A Good Idea?

**Disclaimer: I really can't find much to say here, other than the fact that I only own OCs.**

**Liege Lord: Yeah, that energy beams thing really wasn't planned out or even thought of before I began writing out that part of the chapter; kind of funny how that works, isn't it? I'm not sure what each person's opinion about Thea will be, but I hope at least a good sum of them will accept her when they meet her. And with Aria, I'm not totally sure what I'll do there, but it'll come together somehow. ;)**

**BAMS: Thank you for that, BAMS, I'm glad you approve. ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: I will do my best with your challenge, my friend, I will! XD I was actually thinking about having a 'Krogan-type' or two in certain points of the ship anyway, so this will help me out with picking a name! And the girl will definitely be fun to write! XP And as for your spoilers? I couldn't help but grin excitedly as I read along, and trust me, that wasn't too much info at all (you'd be shocked at what people tell me)! Anyway, Yes, that Liselle is actually Aria's little girl, but I'm going to change up the canon and make it to where she hadn't met Grayson (it's his fault she died, and honestly, I was a little angry about it).  
>Putting that aside, I must say I'm happy to have free reign with you in this fic (wait, that came out wrong...)! Thank you for making my own day as well, HB! ;)<strong>

**A/N: I'm glad to present to you chapter six of Shards of The Past, everyone, so let's get right to it!**

"-tain… Captain, it is time to rise." Thea's voice filtered into my foggy brain, bringing me fully awake. I couldn't help but turn over to get more comfortable, ignoring her insistent voice. You would too, if it was six-thirty in the morning and your bed was better than a Tempur-Pedic.  
>"Captain…" I could've sworn I heard the stern AI sigh as if weary from trying to reach me.<p>

I knew I'd have to get up eventually, so I rose, sitting up in the comfortable bed. Jill came in through the door then, as cheery-looking as usual. She floated over to me, holding a cup of Delta Water (some 'healthy' water Thea made us all drink for some reason) in her mechanical arm that extended from the side of her spherical body.

"Good morning, Captain!" the grin in her happy voice caused me to groan, not wanting to deal with it so early in the morning.

I groggily took the cup from her, letting her arm retract back into her body. At least the water tasted better than any tap I'd had back home… And there goes the depression again. Great. I missed my family and friends I'd used to hang out with on a daily basis (other than those who came with me), knowing I'd never see them again, and it was painful. I couldn't help but wonder if they missed me or if their memory was wiped when I and the others came over or something to prevent an investigation on our disappearances.

After gulping down the refreshing beverage, I cleared my head to stop with the gloomy thoughts and set the cup down onto my bedside table before slinging my legs over the edge of the mattress. I let out a long yawn, stretching to wake myself up.

"I don't want to get up…" I muttered, rising from the bed to stand. I slowly stepped off the platform the bed was standing on and headed to the closet to get some clothes on.

It had been a week since first coming to the reality of Mass Effect and I still hadn't gotten that feeling of excitement to go away. It was what got me out of bed so easily, anyway, so it wasn't so bad. At least I didn't have to go to school anymore, even though Thea still gave me and the others 'lessens' on material taught in the schools of Mass Effect. They got me spending hours nursing headaches but at least they were interesting; being taught by an AI on how to survive and how to work differing systems was pretty cool. Seriously though, Thea was more like a stern caretaker than a normal AI on a ship.

"You must continue searching for the candidates within the dossiers, Captain, as you must be aware." Thea chided, causing me to glare at her avatar in annoyance. She loved lecturing people as well, and it was the one thing that rubbed me the wrong way so easily; my father had never ceased in lecturing me so I naturally became impatient when one tried to do so with me.

"You have new dossiers, Captain! I took the liberty of filing them in your terminal for later!" Jill exclaimed joyfully, gaining my attention once more. I simply patted the top of her body before heading out of the door with a datapad of the dossier I'd need for the day.

Even if it had been a week, most of it had been travel time; the game forgot to add that in, I suppose, but I was never allowed to rest. I had to look after the others and see to the general well-being of the ship and crew even if I only had seven people and Jill so far. I still hadn't gotten used to it either, but at least I had Thea to watch over me for the time being.

Still, I wasn't sure what to make of this one: a 24-year-old female named Ayashe Nayla. Apparently, she was adopted by an asari and a Krogan after she was found, wandering around at a young age. I couldn't say I expected anything specific, but from what the info said in the pad, I knew she'd be a solid recruit. If I could gain her loyalty, anyway.

…

"So… we're hanging around Tuchanka of all places, to pick up… a human, was it? You're kidding right?" I shook my head at Joya's question as we all suited up in our armored clothing. Isaac had said he and the others needed more time to get the stock in the armory ready, so for the moment, we were stuck with what we woke up in originally. I couldn't say I felt safe, either, and we were still on the Exodus.

"This is going to be fun!" Lucien grinned, reminding me of his love for Krogans. I simply mumbled a small reply to get the others going before walking out of the room.

Before I could go far though, Brandon caught me in the small plaza of deck three. He pushed a small device into my hands with a bit of a tense look on his face. I looked at him questioningly, too tired to voice a query. He gestured to the device and shrugged only slightly.

"It's a nuclear grenade; only for use in emergency." He said, speaking as shortly and to the point as usual. I blinked as the information processed in my mind.

"A nuclear… grenade?" I muttered, only earning a nod in return. Before I could speak once more, he walked off, no doubt returning to the armory. "We have Grenukes?" I asked to the empty space, mashing the two words together. I hadn't been informed of the existence of them let alone of the Exodus having any.

Shaking my head, I chose to strap it into a handy compartment on my belt before waiting for the others.

…

We had only just gotten to the main doors when we were stopped by two Krogans. I had told them I was there to see the clan leader (whoever he was). They let me through, saying I might as well die inside and stink up the camp than stink up their posts; it was irritating and foreboding at the same time.

And so, I stood there, looking up at the clan leader and trying to keep from shaking like a leaf. This Krogan was huge and completely scary-looking; easily the most intimidating Krogan I'd seen. Not that I'd seen a lot, but this one had to be at Wrex's level, he was so daunting. Not to mention his seemingly permanent scowl helped complete the look.

"And what exactly does this little human want with me, Clan leader Urdnot Vaek?" he asked, his rumbling voice causing slight vibrations in my chest. I took a small breath before answering, making sure to sound as I would speaking to any other.

"I'm searching for a Krogan of your clan, his name is Greyve." I stated, seeing the flash in his eyes when I mentioned Greyve's name. The large Krogan leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.

"You, a human, think you can simply walk in here, demanding to know where one of my clan is? Have you any idea of what I can do to you?" he asked, starting to sound aggravated. I put my hands up a bit, finding this to be more of a fragile situation than I'd originally thought.

"I understand, and I don't want to come off as disrespectful; I only want to see Greyve." I said coolly, refusing to back down. I knew the Krogan respected strength, if anything, so I had little doubt Vaek was going to make me do something Krogan-ish in order to prove myself or something.

"Is that so? At least you have enough courage to face me, human, I'll allow you that. But to know Urdnot is to be Urdnot; you must pass a test before I will even consider speaking with you further." The clan leader announced, causing me to swallow involuntarily.

This was definitely going to be a long day…

…

So I'm in the battlefield Shepard used in Mass Effect 2 to get Grunt through his rite, surrounded by Varren that looked very, very hungry, with no armor and only my friends and our gauntlets to survive. Perfect. I was just thinking how this day couldn't get any worse, either, when one of the damned beasts jumped at me and caught my arm in its powerful jaw. Thank god my gauntlet was strong enough to keep from getting damaged by it, even though I had to kick at the Varren to get it off.

Kate stuck to my side, our backs pushed against one another's to minimize blind spots. There's another thank you to Tull for badgering us with his 'battle strategies'. We blasted away at the seemingly constant flow of ravenous animals, struggling not to be overwhelmed by them. I felt better when my gauntlet seemed to unlock something, as if sensing I needed it, and automatically switched to a 'Spread-fire' mode. This was literally a mini wall of red energy that slammed into the creatures setting them on fire from the sheer heat of it.

My eyes drooped a bit as I felt the power draining from me, fueling the gauntlet's stronger attack. It wasn't long before I saw Kate's doing the same, along with the others, releasing small beams of white-hot energy if only to keep the Varren back.

Eventually, they stopped coming. We all let out heavy breaths and slumped a little, out of breath. Before we could relax though, a rumbling in the ground caught our attention. I looked up and around, trying to gauge where it was coming from but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

That is, until a giant thresher maw burst from the craggy earth, screeching so loudly it made my ears strain painfully. We all jumped for cover to keep from its acidic attacks but failed in keeping from cursing: that Vaek was just fixing to kill us, that douche bag!

"Remind me why we came here just to fucking find the lady's father?" Kate yelled over the Thresher's ruckus, causing me to clench my teeth in irritation. I did _not_ like being fucked with.

"I'm going to have a word with Vaek after I'm through with this oversized worm!" I growled, standing from my cover to regard the thresher head on. I know; I was insane when I was pissed off.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Lucien hissed, rolling closer. I pulled out the Grenuke Brandon gave me that morning before jumping out of the thresher's acid's way. I looked to Lucien as I pulled the activator and flipped the weaponizer at the top. The Grenuke immediately started to heat up in my hand, urging me to hurry it up.

Without a second thought, whether due to the adrenaline or bad mood, I stepped out in front of the giant worm once more. It screech at me, leaning forward as if to try and get in my face. Taking the wonderful opportunity, I lobbed the device at its open mouth. As it flew toward the target, I held my breath, hoping to whatever power that be that the Grenuke would kill the damned thing.

Not two seconds later, it rammed into the back of the Thresher's throat, instantly stopping its roaring. It leaned back and sat still for a few moments as if confused as to why or what happened. Before I even had a chance to duck for cover, an enormous explosion incinerated the thresher entirely, the sheer force of the shockwave throwing us all to the ground. I slammed into a low wall just as the others did and closed my eyes involuntarily because of the bright mushroom cloud rising into the air.

After a few moments, things quieted down and I opened my eyes slowly. The entire battlefield was ruined, fleshy pieces of the thresher were strewn about in steaming piles of gross and my ears were ringing. If Vaek wasn't satisfied after this, I'd just have to ring his neck wouldn't I?

…

"Hmm… human, you have proven yourself worthy of Urdnot this day, by killing even a thresher. It takes a quad for that, too." Vaek said thoughtfully, relieving me slightly. I kept from relaxing though, if only to keep the right visage.

"Thank you, Clan leader. Will you tell me where Greyve is?" I asked, trying not to sound as if I was about to hurt him. I was still a little peeved about the whole so-called test thing, and my body wouldn't stop shaking from the adrenaline rush I'd gotten.

"I suppose… He left with his little family about a year ago; hasn't come back much since then. Last I'd heard, he was living in Illium with his asari mate and human child." He didn't exactly seem fond of Greyve, but he also seemed to be almost amused at the odd match up. Some family that must be.  
>"Know that you are bound to Urdnot now, human: do not mistake my kindness for a ticket." He spat out the last part as if the mere idea disgusted him. I didn't recall swearing any loyalty oath or even taking that rite of passage thing, but he may have meant something different in it or something.<p>

Still, I was alive and I had a lead as to where to find our estranged family.

…

Three days later, I'm standing in the Illium docks with a datapad in one hand and a metal carving in the other. Vaek had given it to me 'to remind me of my Urdnot bond' or something like that. It looked like the Krogan ally medal you get as an achievement in the game, only without the little swords and stars at the bottom. It also had, instead of Wrex's face, the symbol of Urdnot engraved in it. Shaking my head at my own strange fortune (whether good or bad) I put the carving away before turning my head to the others. Ike and Joya had already gone off to buy stuff with Isaac and Brandon (yeah, Thea had a card that went to an account in my name with almost too many credits in it) already, so I was left with Kate and Lucien.

"Let's hurry up; I want to go back to bed as soon as possible." I stated, not sure whether to get excited or afraid about meeting such a strange family just to ask them if I can take their daughter on some crazy adventure.

…

"123, 124, 125… here it is, 126." I said, looking at the door of the regular-sized house. The bartender at the local bar had told me Greyve's address after I showed him the Urdnot clan-carving. Still, I hadn't expected a Krogan to have settled down with some family. Even if that was strange though, I found the asari's surprise at my searching for the Krogan more unsettling: she didn't tell me something and it was bothering me.

Taking a breath though, I rang the comm on the outside to let whoever was home that someone was at the door. A voice called from inside moments later and I waited patiently, still feeling off. I yawned quietly, feeling drained from all the happenings lately. Next thing I knew, a finger pushed into my open mouth, startling me. I stopped the yawn quickly and looked in front of me to see a smirking woman with dark hair and gray eyes, no older than twenty-five. This was who we were looking for, too: Ayashe Nayla.

"It's rude to yawn like that before introducing yourself you know." She said, leaning against the doorway. I could see the spark in her eyes and recognized it for humor and mischief almost right away. I only stared at her for a moment before blinking and coming out of it a little.

"Sorry 'bout that." I blushed slightly in embarrassment, self-consciously shifting. "I came to speak with you and your family." I said smoothly, keeping up at least a small chunk of my dignity.

Ayashe's eyes flickered slightly at that but she nodded and let me, Lucien and Kate enter the surprisingly well-kept house. She led us to what I figured was the living room and sat us down before calling for her mother. Since she didn't mention Greyve, I figured he was out at the moment. Moments later, a quite elegant asari entered the room, looking upon me and the others with a raised brow. She sat down at the opposite couch by her adopted daughter quietly, seemingly assessing us.

"What is it you need?" the asari woman inquired. I leaned forward and rested an elbow on one knee.

"Let me introduce myself first: I'm Captain Alexis Ivanova of the Exodus. You are Ayashe Nayla, I believe?" I inquired, trying not to come off all high and mighty even though I sure felt like I was doing so. I still wasn't used to the whole Captain thing, but I was slowly adjusting because that was what I was regularly called by.

"Yeah. This is my mom, Sari Nayla." Ayashe confirmed, gesturing to her mother. I nodded and let a small upturn of the corners of my mouth tell her I wasn't evil, at least.

"I've come to request Ayashe's aid on my ship." I stated, seeing the sudden jolt of surprise go through the two before they looked to each other with slightly widened eyes. Then, they looked back to me.

"What do you need her for?" Sari asked, looking as if she were reserving her judgment for the moment.

"I'm aware of her strong skills with explosives and heavy weapons, miss, and I won't lie; I need her help aboard my ship. The Exodus is in for a heavy journey and for better chances of survival, you daughter will be invaluable." I explained, speaking the truth from my ass.

There was a long pause of silence that made me feel a little awkward, just sitting there, waiting for an answer. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long, seeing as how the two turned to each other and began speaking quietly. From what I gathered, it was apparent that Greyve had disappeared, given the fact that Ayashe said she may be able to find him if she came along. I had no room to ask what had happened to the Krogan before Ayashe turned to me with a determined expression.

"I'll join you- if you let me look for my father as well." She stated, to which I smiled faintly.

"I'm fine with it." I said, shaking her hand.

Soon, I told her we'd leave the next morning and gave her directions to the Exodus.

**A/N: How was **_**that **_**HB? I quite liked this chapter, even if it was a little too Mary Sue for my tastes. Still, I hope I did alright in your eyes; if not, please don't hate me. ;-;**

**Anyway, review or PM me, anyone can still join my crew, so don't give up just yet: we've got more coming! ^.^**


	7. Of Labs And Lemurs

**Disclaimer: I give up! I can't figure out some funny way to say it! I just don't own them, okay! My OCs are all I have! What do you want from me?**

**BAMS: Yeah, I kind of came up with the Grenukes idea while writing it out, as I usually do with my ideas. `-` Still, I don't think I was really all-out on the specialties part with Ayashe; she's still awesome though!**

**Hopelessly Blue: Ah, HB, you grace me with your insanely uplifting reviews once more! XD I'm very relieved you liked how I portrayed your character, and I must say she really was fun to write; I'm sure she'll be a solid part of the Exodus. Putting that aside, I see how you're reminded of Wheatley when you see Jill, but I assure you; she is not the idiot (I hope) that he was. And as for Liselle, I actually laughed in the face of canon a few times when figuring her part out. -.- Oh, and don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the river of love! ;) *smirks gamely* I just wanted you to say it again!**

***facepalms and looks off to the side, muttering* That was so cheesy, what I just said…**

**Liege Lord: Oh yeah, you're right. I hadn't thought of the possible 'perks' when I wrote the chapter out. *fail* Anyway, I don't think it's Thea that actually has the account since it's in Alexis' name and all (she also has the card). Still, you bring up a good point: where **_**did**_** those credits come from?**

**A/N: Ahem. Let's crunch through this chapter, everyone!**

"Freaking bolts…!" I growled, trying to unjam the Auxiliary Zenith-Analyzer (some fancy scanner machine in Engineering). "This…is…impossible!" I grimaced, failing to unhook the capacitor-thingy in order to get to the malfunctioning bio-circuit at the back. As you can clearly see, it wasn't going so well. I had been down there for an hour, too, so I was starting to get more than a little irritated.

"Captain, we have arrived to the Citadel." Thea's announcement caught me off-guard and caused me to fall off of the narrow over-bridge in the second floor of Engineering. I fell down to the first floor and landed on top of Tull, the both of us crashing to the floor. Unfortunately, his hard body and armor made the fall feel a lot worse than it was.

"Ooww…" I muttered, rolling off of Tull. He groaned a bit and rose on his hands and knees, shaking his head as if to clear it. Then, he looked to me.

"You okay, Captain?" he asked thickly. I was a little worried I may have broken one of his fringes or something but they looked okay to me.

"You tell me… Are you alright?" I asked looking him over. He only nodded before picking up the datapad he'd dropped. We both stood then and he left, probably heading back to the armory. Geez, he and the other two were always on there; made me wonder if they had some secret project they'd been working on or something.

"Captain, we have arrived." Thea's repeat reminded me of how I'd fallen in the first place and I glared up at the ceiling.

"Could you not, Thea!" I burst out, storming out of the room. I no doubt confused her with that but seriously; couldn't she wait until I wasn't on the edge of a deadly railing?

Freaking AIs… (This was also starting to become a habit of mine to say…)

…

"Here you are, Captain!" I looked over to see Jill holding a datapad, floating over to me. I took it from her with a thankful smile and nod before looking over the information in the small pad.

After a few moments I gave it back to Jill with a sigh; we were here just to pick up a cook? One person? I could understand, given I didn't want to keep eating that paste Thea called food but we'd have to dodge C-Sec just to find this guy. Not to mention he was a turian.

"We're here for a turian cook?" Joya muttered, scrunching her nose at the datapad Jill held. I shrugged and flexed my hands habitually (I did that when I was getting ready for something and such). With the gauntlet on my arm though it felt a little strange yet normal seeing as how it was literally integrated to my arm.

"Yeah, his name is Praxis." I answered. The picture in the datapad had shown him to be a pretty cool looking turian, too; his facial tattoos were a deep purple, no less. Somehow, he made it look good.

"Wait, we're going to have to avoid C-Sec somehow…" Ike said, scratching is chin as we stepped out of the Exodus. I hummed an agreement and we all passed upwards, out of the dock.

Soon, we ended up passing the old man again, who surprisingly wasn't dust yet. He looked up when we came in and he greeted us as he had before with a smile. We exchanged hellos and soon left, heading for the Presidium of all places.

…

"This wasn't what I meant when I said we'd have to avoid C-Sec." Ike grumbled, scratching at the fake beard he wore. We were all wearing disguises of some kind (who knew clothing stores in Mass Effect could double as spy stores?) and it had been decided that Ike and Lucien wear beards. Oddly enough, the disguises were very believable; I couldn't even recognize anyone unless I heard their voice.

"I hope that birthday goes well!" the quite helpful asari store owner smiled; we had told her we needed to surprise a friend of ours for his birthday with disguises and such. She was naïve enough to believe us and even help out with the guise-picking

I only smiled at her from behind my crimson sunglasses and fedora-like-hat. I was actually glad I bought this stuff too, seeing as how it was really cool-looking and could be useful for several events in the future. I turned to the others then and looked over their outfits, glad that they looked like completely different people: Ike was wearing a beard and the equivalent of a mercenary uniform, Lucien's outfit was military-styled, Kate had on casual clothing styled slightly like a gang member and Joya was wearing a hooded uniform similar to Kasumi's from ME2. I was wearing a bit of a mafia suit with the hat and glasses.

"We should get going." I said, ushering the others out of the shop. I said my last thank-you to the asari shopkeeper before leaving myself.

…

"Who knew he'd work here?" Lucien wondered, looking up at the restaurant. I shrugged, seeing the name of it was 'Counselor's Café'. Maybe they ate here?

"Let's just get this over with." I muttered, leading the way inside.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by an enthusiastic salarian. I asked him about Praxis and he told me I could talk to him since it was almost the end of his shift but I had to leave the others behind. I agreed and told them to order some food to go or something since we were hungry.

Once I was in the backroom I saw the turian we were looking for, just leaving the changing room. He wore relatively casual clothes as well, telling me he at least wasn't a snide cook. He saw me waiting for him and the salarian told him I wanted to speak with him. At that, we left the restaurant together, heading to where the others were waiting.

"So what was it you needed me for?" Praxis asked, leaning forward on the bench we sat on. I took a breath and clasped my hands together before speaking.

"I don't suppose you're bored of Citadel high-life yet?" I inquired, getting him to look back at me.

"What are you getting at?" he questioned. I shrugged lightly and perked an eyebrow at him.

"My name is Captain Alexis Ivanova of the Exodus. I need someone like you on my ship, Mr. Praxis." I said matter-of-factly, getting the equivalent of a raised brow from him.

"So you scouted me out, huh?" he asked rhetorically, registering that I already knew his name. I nodded. "Then you must be quite the specific type." He leaned back in the bench and let out a sigh. "You got it right, though, I can't say I like being stuck here, catering to snobs all of the time." He admitted, seemingly in thought.

"I see. How would you like to join my crew then? Travel the galaxy?" I asked.

"What kind of a ship do you have?" he asked. I took out a small datapad of picture of the Exodus. Thea had told me to show them to Praxis since he wasn't fond of surprises and such. I guess she was right.

Praxis took the datapad from me and looked it over intensely. After a few minutes of thinking he handed me back the pad and stood, obviously having made up his mind. I looked up at him, sitting casually.

"I think I'd like that. I just need to quit my job and I'm free." He said, to which I smirked. I stood then and shook his hand. I gave him directions to the Exodus and headed back to the ship with the others, relieved to have finished this up without getting caught by C-Sec.

…

"Captain, it seems you have forgotten the other recruits we came to the Citadel for." Thea voiced startling me from my lunch. I looked at her avatar with a look of disbelief.

"You only gave me one this morning!" I argued, having had only just relaxed.

"You departed before I was able to fully brief you on each dossier." She said flatly, making me frown.

"Who are we supposed to get?" I asked, nodding to Ayashe who just walked in.

"The lab techs we are to recruit live on the Presidium. Jill has their information." The AI then blinked off, not letting me answer back. Ayashe sat across from me at the table as Jill floated over, datapad in hand. The woman I had known only for a few days didn't seem to be much of a shy person, but I had gotten to understand she wasn't used to humans much seeing as how she grew up with a Krogan and an asari. It was understandable really, but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable; with her father missing I figured she'd be a little on edge as well.

"Here you are Captain!" Jill's ability to always speak in exclamation points had at first been annoying, but I suppose I was getting used to it little-by-little. Even if I wasn't, I'd have to eventually anyway.

I took the datapad from the bot and looked over the information quietly as I absently drank my chocolate milk. (What? Can't a girl drink what she wants?)

_Kallithea_

_-DOB: June 1__st__, 2158_

_-Specialties: Xenology, Biology_

_-Occupation: Scientist of Binary Helix_

_Mels_

_-DOB: May 19__th__, 2154_

_-Specialties: Cybernetics, Genetic enhancements_

_-Occupation: N/A_

_-Previous Occupation: Biochemist of Sirta Foundation _

_Sheva T'Vir_

_-DOB: December 20__th__, 1962_

_-Specialties: Ecology, Physics, Quantum Physics_

_-Occupation: N/A_

_-Previous Occupation: Physicist of Baria Frontiers_

I looked back up from the datapad and sighed, knowing Thea wouldn't leave me alone until I found these people and got them to sign on. I finished off my chocolate milk and set the cup down before standing. Ayashe gave me a nod of acknowledgement as she dug into her pile of food. She had quite the appetite, too…

"Thea, tell the others to meet me outside in five minutes." I said, departing the large Mess Hall.

"Yes Captain." She answered back. I went to get ready in my disguise once more, still conscious of C-Sec.

Once outside, I regarded the others and gave every other one a datapad detailing in a certain potential recruit's stats. We'd have to go in groups of two to keep from attracting too much attention and to get this done faster.

"Okay, we'll have to split up to get these guys in time. Kate, Lucien, try to convince Mels to join on. Joya, take Ike and see if you can't recruit Kallithea. I'll suffer through Sheva T'Vir." I said, getting nods in return before each pair went off in their respective directions, leaving me alone. I sighed before heading toward Sheva's address.

…

I knocked on the asari's door not twenty minutes later, taking a breath. I hoped she wouldn't be some shady type that Thea thought was a good idea, but with her, you never know. It didn't take long for the door to open and an asari to step out. She was wearing casual clothing and seemed to be in a rush.

"Hello, I'm-" before I could even get a sentence out, she grabbed jacket and pulled me into the house. She led me through a hallway and into a kitchen. She then let go of me and rushed to the stove-thing, babbling about burning food or some such.  
>"Ah… would you mind if I-" I tried again, only to be cut off when she thrust a plate of food into my hands and pushed me into the dining room and sat me down at the table before running back into the kitchen.<p>

I simply stared after her, completely confused as to what was going on. Moments later, a teenage asari walked in, accompanied by what looked like a lemur. She took one look at my utter confusion before turning to the open door of the kitchen with a scowl of something like annoyance. The lemur jumped off of the asari's shoulder and onto the table, gazing at me curiously.

"Mom! You did it again!" she called, before stomping into the kitchen.

Again, I sat there, silent and tense with the lemur just staring at me with its wide eyes. I swallowed a bit and shifted in the chair, feeling almost as if I were just kidnapped.

A few moments later, the two asari stepped into the dining room with plates of food in hand. Both sat across from me, the teen-looking one still glowering to nowhere in particular and the evident mother (Thea failed in mentioning this part) simply smiling warmly. I tried one as well, but it was obvious I was lost.

"So, you came to speak with me?" Sheva asked, catching my attention.

"Ah- yes, I did. I am Captain Alexis Ivanova of the Exodus." I was starting to get tired of announcing it wherever I went. "You are Sheva T'Vir, yes?" I asked, earning a bright smile from the lady. She nodded in affirmation then as well, seeing the lemur move towards my hand. I paid it little mind though, hoping it wouldn't put me in more of an awkward situation than I already was.

"Oh, you must be famous; you sound famous." Sheva said, making me blush a little due to the situation as it was.

"No, I can't say I really am… Still, I did come to ask for your assistance…" I trailed off, realizing the lemur was fidgeting with my fingers. The teenage asari scowled at it before crossing her arms, saying nothing.

"Oh I'm sorry, this poor thing was found a few days ago by a friend of mine and she asked me to take care of it!" Sheva laughed off-handedly, going to shoo the lemur away from my hand. The animal only ignored her, jumping further up my arm. I pursed my lips, knowing I probably looked like a fool, getting climbed on like a tree by a monkey.  
>"Oh, she seems to like you!" she chuckled again, offering an apologetic look. I cleared my throat, seeing the teenage asari start to eat her food while Sheva took a sip from her drink. "I'm so sorry I didn't get you a drink! I'll be right back!" she stated, rising.<p>

"Ah-" I tried, seeing her shoot off back into the kitchen. I sighed then, and looked down at the plate of what looked like purple chicken. I was not going to ask what it came from, that was for sure.

"She's always like that." I looked to the young asari girl questioningly. "I'm Alyssa." She said, going back for her food. Sheva then came in, holding a drink in her hand. She came over and handed it to me before taking up her seat across from me once more. The lemur was on my shoulders now, playing with my hair bun.

"I have come to request your aid on my ship, miss T'Vir." I stated, not wanting this to draw out more than it already was. Both asari then looked up at me from their food blankly.

"I, uh… am aware of your specialties. It would be a large advantage to have you onboard and…" I gave her a datapad detailing the Exodus' labs' stats and such. She took it and looked through it intently as Alyssa struggled to see.  
>"You would be paid regularly as well. I won't try to advertise my facilities to you, either; this is your choice." I said, hating to sound like a telemarketer.<p>

There was a drawn out silence as she mulled it over in her mind. Soon, she handed me back the datapad, earning another pout from the seemingly unnoticed Alyssa. I shrugged on the inside and gave her the pad, which she took gratefully. Sheva took another sip from her drink as if trying to put her words together in her head. When she was finished, she regarded me lightly with a smile.

"I think it'll be a good opportunity for both me and Alyssa. I do need a job since I left my last one, but…" she trailed off, looking to Alyssa. Said asari looked up at her then to me, smirking gamely.

"I want to go too." she stated, staring at me seriously. I thought about for a few moments before coming up with a decision.

"Alright, then. Exodus has proper learning facilities as well so you won't have to drop from school." I smirked, seeing her deflate. It wasn't as if I had much of a choice, but I couldn't be sure what Thea would say about having to teach a kid. I looked back to Sheva to see she was smiling brightly once more.

"Then it's settled! I'll get ready as soon as I can!" she stated, starting to get up. I was able to stop her this time though and waved her back into her seat.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon, you don't have to rush right now." I offered, seeing her relax.

I was about to leave, too, until Sheva told me to stay and finish my food.

…

"That Mels guy took one look at the picture of the Exodus' labs and practically sprinted over to see the ship. He definitely joined on." Lucien smirked amusedly, crossing his arms. I had just told them of what happened to me; I'd just got back to the ship, too. Two hours after we originally split up to get our people. Man, Sheva can talk.

"We also got Kallithea. She had been a little skeptical at first but after we explained things to her and showed her the Exodus' datapad she agreed to help us out." Ike smiled, seemingly satisfied at having recruited someone. I sighed, glad that we at least finished everything off before getting taken by C-Sec.

I just couldn't wait to hear Thea's lecture on bringing kids in the Exodus…

**A/N: Whoo! Lot's o' recruiting today! Yeah, that last part made me laugh at Alexis; getting climbed on by a monkey can be pretty awkward, right?**

**Anyway, review or PM me and tell me what you thought! ;)**


	8. The Big Red Dump

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and whatever I actually create, so yeah. Bioware took everything else. Dammit.**

**BAMS: I'm glad you like. Of course, I'm gathering an actual, full-on crew. I'll need to, considering this is five years before ME1 and I have a hug-ass ship in need of a real crew to maintain it. Besides, it's more exciting that way! ;)**

**Liege Lord: Why do you say Thea needs socialization? She's perfectly normal. Totally. `-` Anyway, I know the disguises were a little zealous, but I figured they'd be entertaining in their own paranoid way, you know? XP You bring up good points as well and I believe Thea may be 'efficient' enough to do so whether or not she tells Alexis.**

**Vivian Uchiha: I'm glad you like my story, and I see you have quite the dossier set up there; I suppose you've put a fair amount of thought into it? I just have a few questions if you don't mind; I see her history, but the 'key to the Conduit thing' is a little confusing seeing as how Saren activated it anyway (and it's five years away, too). Why would her necklace scar her, as well (I can see it giving her visions and such, though)? But really, a 14-year-old assassin? I can't wrap my brain around that one… Even so, your character was interesting and I don't mean to sound like a douche (if I do, feel free to hate me) ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: I'm glad you could access the chapter; I made sure to re-upload it just to make sure it wasn't FF's fault and it worked! Yea! (You could never bother me, HB. ^.^) Anyway, I'm glad you liked that part with Ayashe; I wrote it with you in mind, of course! Maybe she goes to the gym as well, who knows? XP And as for Sheva and her kid? I'd have to admit them to be quite endearing to me, they're so funny to write and read, you know? (The lemur wrote itself- at first, I had no idea there was going to even be one there, and then *poof* the lemur appeared! XD) **

**Still with you on that river, HB! ;) **

**P.S. I'm sad to say I haven't seen the new trailer for ME3; I guess I've just been too caught up in my stories and getting them to you that I didn't notice… (Wow, I just realized how that could be considered a flirtatious comment… *blushes embarrassingly* Sorry 'bout that…)**

**A/N: Now that that's done, let's get to the chapter!**

"Hhaawww...!" I yawned, resting my head in my hand to keep it from falling to the table's surface. Thea stopped in her lecturing upon hearing my yawn and her avatar looked at me. I looked at her innocently, picking up my head.  
>"What?" I asked, hearing Alyssa's hushed giggles and Ike's 'cover-up cough'.<p>

"Do try not to fall asleep during this lesson, Captain, or you may not know how to save the Exodus if it ever malfunctions." The disgruntled AI stated, as irritated as one can get. I leaned back in my comfy head-table chair and sighed.

"Why can't we just get our engineering team next? It'll be so much easier." I grumbled, almost feeling the disapproval emanating from Thea. She was so uptight I could swear she's worse than EDI sometimes.

"We must attain the CIC crew first, and then the Battery officer. After which, we will recruit the vehicle techs and the doctor(s) we will need. Engineering can be maintained for now with current personnel since we have other relatively tech-savvy crewmembers at the moment." Thea started, wearing me out with the same info she'd been drilling into my brain's to-do list she'd been preaching for two days._ (A/N: Anyone can still join, BTW; I'll just change names or add on whatever seeing as how Exodus has other, less crucial jobs and opportunities- I'll explain those later)_

"Don't we need a requisitions guy too? And a pilot? And a doctor?" I asked tiredly, feeling a headache coming on.

"Not at the moment, no. We will need the requisitions officer once you decided what to do- after you recruit the rest of the candidates." She repeated, making me groan and slump further into my chair.

"Ah, Thea?" her avatar then turned to Alyssa, who'd just spoken.

"Yes, Alyssa?" at least the AI was a little more casual with names (excluding me; to her, my only name is 'Captain') than EDI was in the game. then again, it could just be because Alyssa was a kid still- in asari terms, of course; 53 is a little older for humans.

"I think the Captain's been harassed enough for today." She giggled, earning a glare from me. She only laughed more at that and the others joined in, at my expense.

…

"So… we're on Omega for a reason?" Ike inquired, cutting the tense silence that had been pervading the room for the past five minutes. I looked down at the extensive list on my datapad with a restrained breath; this was going to take a while to get through. We need to get several people on Omega, then on Illium again, and back to some Shadow Broker-controlled space station. How Thea had the pass codes to the station, I had no idea, but I had a feeling I shouldn't ask. If I had to guess though, I'd bet it had something to do with whoever sent us here in the first place.

"What do you think, Ike?" I asked, knowing he knew we were here for recruits. He only shrugged as he yawned, so I waited for him to speak.

"Yeah, well, it's better to ask some random question than to bake here, psyching ourselves out. Omega looks like a big red dump." He responded, crossing his arms over his chest petulantly. I sighed and walked into a district I vaguely recognized from ME2.

It must've been near Aria's club then, if I wasn't mistaken. Back on the ship, Isaac and the others had told me it was okay to come to Omega because they hadn't been Aria's direct employees- just mercenaries she could rely on when she needed. Still, I was going to make sure to keep away from her club. I doubted I'd be let in, anyway, seeing as how I didn't technically exist in the ME 'verse.

"Nice description there, Ike; makes me wanna live here." Lucien muttered sarcastically, getting a smirk from Kate and a roll of the eyes from Joya.

"Totally, man, we just need to set up a nice little house somewhere… get some shingles…" Joya's comment got a few snickers out of us as we walked along. I wasn't very comfortable in Omega for personal reasons, as well; seeing the poor, the despairing, and the lost all around hit me a little close to home.

Their blank expressions, showing how they had just given up… it was hard to watch.

"I'd suggest we all split up, but given our current location, I'm not so sure it's a good idea." Kate muttered, scanning around as she always had. She used to be a street kid- that was where I first met her- but she had never joined any gangs; still, she was exposed to it enough to be on guard constantly. Even so, she was a good person at heart.

"Maybe so, but if we don't split up it'll take us too long to recruit everyone on the list here." Lucien groused, pushing a hand through his hair. I stopped us then and stared down at the datapad, coming up with something of a plan.

"Thea, can you send over Ayashe, Isaac, Tull and Brandon please?" I inquired, speaking over the comm in my gauntlet.

"Of course, Captain; they will be armed as well." The AI answered smoothly, giving me no small sense of comfort.

"And tell Sheva not to burn the coffee again; Praxis won't be able to watch her." I added, getting my friends to smirk lightly. Sheva could be so clumsy when left alone.

"Will he not be at his station, Captain?" Thea questioned.

"Yeah, can you patch me through to him?" I requested, shifting on my feet. There was a moment of silence before Praxis' voice came over the comm.

"What do you need, Captain?" he asked.

"I need your help with something…"

…

Once everyone was there, I set them into groups of three. I had Brandon and Ayashe while Kate took Tull and Ike; Lucien had Isaac and heavier weapons to try and make up for the lack of a third member. I also handed each team a datapad with certain priorities on which persons to recruit. With any luck, we'd be able to get this done before something terrible happened.

"Keep on your guard and don't talk to shady strangers you guys; we're here to get in, get people and get out." I said, eying each person for effect. They all nodded in understanding, priming their weapons and gauntlets. i did so myself, feeling the slight buzz in my own gauntlet as it activated. somehow, it had gotten to feel natural over the past two weeks or so we'd first woken up with them.  
>"No heroics either, I can't have you risking yourselves needlessly." I ordered, pointing to the general group. They nodded once more, few wearing smirks, and looked to each other to confirm their readiness.<p>

Once we were all set, we headed in our different directions, each hoping no trouble would come our way.

**A/N: Sorry for the shortness and such you guys, but I wanted to give y'all a chance to register your names within my conscious. Wait, that sounded a little weird…**

**Review or PM me, tell me what you thought or want, okay? ;)**


	9. Just A Few Complications

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I only got my OCs and whatever I personally create, so… **

**Vivian Uchiha: Okay, that is easier to understand, but still: how did the necklace scar her, is what I'm asking. Even through that, it's interesting; I think I'll be able to use this one and develop it if you don't mind my doing so. Thanks for the review!**

**BAMS: I understand where you're coming from man, don't worry. I'm pretty sure they made the Citadel and Omega so opposite to each other to emulate them better symbolically; with red and dark colors, people typically associate them with bad or evil things/ideas- with blue and light colors, it's natural to think of the place as clean or peaceful, even good. I'm sure you already knew this, but I'll say it for those that didn't. 6.6**

**Liege Lord: Yeah, I'm pretty sure Thea's unshackled and all; good thing she's on our side, eh? As for the jinxing thing, I do believe I agree with you. I wonder what'll happen to everyone.**

**Hopelessly Blue: Aww, HB! You're quite the adorable one, I'll give you that. ;) And why would I want to tweak her character? I almost feel as if you're Ayashe and all, so I want to do the both of you justice! Besides, I like the way she is. ^.^ And I do agree with you on the Aria part; she probably knows we're there already. Still, what she'll do about it, I'm not sure.**

**DN7: Seeing as how we've got five years, a big ship and a lot to do before the start of ME1, I think having a crew is best. Besides, not all of them will be OCs and not all of them will be main characters, you know? ;) Anyway, thanks for your review and I have read your story. Mostly, anyway, I think I missed the last chapter or so you posted, but I've got a good insight I guess. Either way, I'll think about your character since one or two of my other characters will/are heavy wielders. Even so, I thank you for reviewing and all that jazz; till next time.**

**A/N: Now let's get down to it, everyone! (Oh, and I have a poll on my profile now; it's having to do with my other story)**

"Freaking streets…" I grumbled, turning another corner. This place could be considered a maze, especially for me, being a newcomer. While I was getting agitated though, Brandon was still quiet and scanning the area; Ayashe was also looking around but she just seemed to be both saddened and disgusted by the conditions of Omega as they were. I could relate.

"Who are we getting first?" Brandon asked, catching my attention. I looked down and mentally activated the display screen of my right gauntlet. It showed the first to be someone by the name of "Ghost". Even so, his real name was Stephen Michaels; he used to be in the Alliance but was honorably discharged for some reason or other. I'd have to ask Thea to get me details on each crew member later.

"Ah… Stephen Michaels, also known as Ghost. Says here, he's some black market dealer for weapons and such…" I muttered, before deactivating the display and moving at a slightly faster pace.

"He's supposed to be our Req. guy, right? How can we trust a black market rat?" Ayashe grimaced, obviously not liking the idea of simply recruiting someone we didn't know. Even so, Thea hadn't done me wrong so far, and as annoying and anal as she could be, I trusted her at the moment.

"You turned out to be alright. For a Krogan's kid, anyway." I smirked, looking to her. She puffed her cheek s a bit and looked away, getting me to blow out a small chuckle. "Still, I get where you're coming from; we'll just have to wait and see, huh?" I added, moving the group into the undercity markets.

…

"Where are we?" Ike whined, trudging along like a tired child. Kate felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation at the question he'd been asking for the past five minutes. Instead, she quickly checked her gauntlet's display to see they were close to the first objective; two salarian brothers named Jilan and Dustil Trios. Looked like they were former analysts of the salarian STG…

"If you're looking for the Trios brothers, they should be on level 4, sector 3." Kate's attention was caught by Tull, who was pointing down a ways, to a hallway that led downward. She nodded once before looking over the map and finding the place he'd been talking about.

"Kate, why are those weird guys following us?" Ike asked, quieter for once. Kate had known for some time that they were being followed- her time on the streets hadn't taught her nothing- but something about them set her off; her gut told her they weren't good guys, and given the place, she had little doubt it was right.

"Just ignore them for now; we need to get these salarians first." She answered simply, moving forward at only a slightly faster pace.

…

"So…" Isaac started, breaking the silence. Lucien glanced at him before returning to his map reading and leading.

"So?" he asked, sounding uninterested. Isaac blew out a breath, all too used to this from Brandon; that guy rarely talked, and when he did it was so to the point that you barely even register what he said before he was gone or something. On the flip side, Lucien was used to this given how Ike was always cheery and talkative, much like Isaac. With the familiarities, the two found themselves feeling less than a little awkward.

"Who are we supposed to recruit here anyway?" Isaac asked, rolling his shoulders absently. Lucien looked to the display once more after scanning around to see the first priority.

"Some guy named Izan Queril. He's supposed to be recruited for the Battery but it says he also has a lot of connections or something so…" he answered, speaking lowly just to make sure no one heard him. Isaac nodded and hummed quietly as if in contemplation before tapping Lucien's shoulder once more.

"So wait, we're not here for CIC people?" he asked. Lucien sighed, deactivating the display in his gauntlet.

"We are, it's just that we're also getting a couple other people who happen to be on Omega as well; it's better than ignoring them until we need them and coming back at a later date." He replied, glancing around as they walked through the darker tunnels and streets. He had a feeling they were being watched, but he couldn't quite put a direction or label on it yet.

Even so, he had a feeling they were being followed- and not by friends, either.

…

"No way." Ayashe muttered, staring at the human male across the way. He was leaning against a wall and talking with some shady character. He seemed to be the calm one in the conversation as well, and I couldn't help but notice the sarcastic look in his eyes; one I could recognize anywhere. After all, I'm the most sarcastic and cynical person I've ever known. Of course, this guy looked like he could be quite the sarcastic one as well, what with his aloof posture and apathetic expression.  
>"He looks like a jerk!" she hissed, gesturing to the man.<p>

"Yeah, well, his name is Stephen Michaels; not 'a jerk'. Actually, I don't think that's a name in the first place." I retorted sarcastically, earning a smack to the arm from Ayashe. She puffed out her cheeks again, too, making me think that was something she did when she was irritated or annoyed.

"Look, the other one's leaving." Brandon whispered, pointing to the shady character. As he had said, the person was exiting through a set of doors on the other side of the way, leaving this Ghost guy alone. I looked to the others and they nodded understandingly before I could say anything.

We then moved forward, intent on meeting our supposed recruit- only to be cut off by a whole gang of shady-looking aliens and humans- all of which seemed to be pissed off. Did this Ghost guy have a few enemies or did he just not sell them what they wanted? Whatever the case, the three of us activated our weapons- me, my gauntlet, Ayashe her heavy AR, Brandon his Mattock heavy rifle- and jumped into cover before we got spotted. I was not ready for this at all.

It didn't take me long to figure out how I had little choice in the matter, though… Soon enough, I'd have to fight people- maybe even kill them… Would I have the strength to do so, to be the Captain? Or would I just choke and die myself? How nice it was to know I probably wouldn't come out of a random battle alive; made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Not. This just wasn't my day…

**A/N: Such a boring chapter, wasn't it? I didn't really like it much at all, but at least I've set up some tension and such… yeah, I have a feeling this fic will be a little slow until I get things started. Sorry…**

**Review, PM me, answer my poll or just sit there like a dumb-dumb, I don't care; just pick one. ;)**


	10. Jamaican Dude

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I just own my OCs and whatever I create, everyone. Nothing to see here, move on, go about your reading.**

**BAMS: Yes, I'm sure you can't wait. ;)**

**Vivian Uchiha: Okay, I think I can work with that, but there is one more thing I have to bother you about; the part with Aria and your character talking all 'sister-to-sister' and stuff? Yeeaahh, that's definitely not the kind of person Aria is. It's hard enough to believe she'd employ a kid, let alone talk to her all close and stuff. Even so, I'm still sorry if I sound like an ass, I just get anal when it comes to my stories and such, you know? ;-; Still, thanks for the review. ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: Aaww, you're so adorable! I'm honestly sorry for this and I hope I don't come off weird, but I think I'm getting smitten with you! ;) Your description of yourself just made me like you more, I guess. ^.^' Anyway, I'll control myself; with the STG members, I'm still off about their characters and how they'll be, but I do think I have the shady guy figured. Putting that aside, I agree with you about the killing thing- the first time is the worst time, eh? ~-~**

**DN7: Thank you, I'm glad you understand and all- I felt a little guilty having to be all anal and stuff about this and I blame my mom; she's the one who gave me this horridly powerful guilty conscious. Putting that aside, I'm glad you liked the chapter and all, so I'll do my best on what's to come. ;)**

**Liege Lord: Yes, thank you for liking sarcastic people, Lordy. Really. Heh, just playing, man, don't hate me! ;) (I'm much too sarcastic for my own good, so sometimes it slips through… -.-')**

**A/N: Sorry for the lateness everyone, but I was focusing on my other story- which I'm writing a sequel of now.**

"What should we do?" Ayashe whispered, scanning the soon-to-be battlefield. I let out a breath and narrowed my eyes on the hostile-looking group of thugs, assessing them as best I could.

"Something that doesn't get us killed…" Brandon muttered, slightly sarcastically. I looked to the Michaels guy and saw his smarmy expression before counting up the thugs. There were seven of them total: One vorcha, two turians, a Krogan and three humans.

I could see Michaels was packing personal weapons and confident, so I figured he could probably handle himself. After all, he was hanging out in Omega of all places. Not to mention his shotgun he was pulling from his back looked almost too modified. With a small breath, I rested back against the cover and looked to my two companions.

"We'll hang back for now, but be ready. I want to see what this guy can do first." I muttered. Brandon nodded in affirmation, but Ayashe scrunched her nose.

"Can't we just leave him alone? I don't like him." She grumbled. I raised a brow.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"He smirks like he owns the place! Not to mention he deals with thugs!" she hissed. I sighed in slight response before looking back over the cover. Michaels just shot the vorcha in the face. I slid back behind cover and looked to Ayashe.

"He may deal with jerks but that doesn't mean he is one. Trust me, Ayashe; I'm a good judge of character." I smirked.

"Does that extend to black market scum or does it stop at sunshine and bunnies?" she asked, managing to utilize her own sarcasm.

"I wouldn't say you're all sunshine and bunnies, but you're doing pretty well." I replied with a muffled smile, making the woman smack me in the arm. A few more shots told me Michaels had taken two more enemies down. I peeked around cover and saw a few of the thugs slowly circling Michaels as he tried to take down the Krogan from cover.  
>"Looks like this is our cue." I said. "Brandon, take the human trying to stop over cover by Michaels. Ayashe, take the one circling around on the other side. I'll get the one behind him." I muttered lowly, unconsciously charging up the gauntlet again. It was strange how easily it recognized when I was about to get into trouble, let alone how quickly it responded.<p>

"I just-"

"Ayashe, we'll talk after we're not in danger, okay?" I said quickly, cutting her off. There was a small silence as she and I stared at each other, but soon, she let out a breath and nodded.

"Fine. Let's get on with it, shall we?" she suggested, priming her AR.

"No chances; one shot one kill." Brandon stated under his breath, seemingly preparing. I had to put this to the back of my mind if I was going to help anyone- especially if I was supposed to be their Captain. My gauntlet finished fully charging then, telling me to go.

"Go!" I said.

Brandon stood, Ayashe jumped over and I rolled to the side from cover before rising to my feet. In unison, we all took aim and shot straight at our targets. Brandon's hit home in the guy's neck, sentencing him to a death from gurgling on his own blood. Ayashe got her guy right in the face, shooting away most of it before his limp body dropped to the ground. My own shot managed to hit the guy right as he jumped for Michaels, and blasted him right into the wall. By then, Michaels had already finished with the Krogan and saw us take out the rest of the gang for him.

I stood still for a moment, taking in what I'd just done before sucking in a small breath. It was over, but my body was still pumped up with adrenaline. I'd have to get used to it soon or I may be as useless as a new recruit for these missions. Even so, I was glad in the back of my mind for not dying or getting my two companions injured. That had to count for something, right?

"Stephen Michaels." I snapped out of my own thoughts to see him holding out his hand to me with a small smile. I took it and we shook briefly, locking eyes. "Otherwise known as 'Ghost'." He added, before releasing my hand. I raised a brow at realizing he'd taken my gauntleted hand instead of my regular hand as most people did.

"Perhaps we can talk in private? I don't want to draw more attention here than we already have." I stated, seeing Michaels glance around subtly before smiling accommodatingly.

"Sure, why not?" he said.

At that, we started for Aria's bar, Afterlife. I didn't quite feel safe going to such a place but the music was loud and Michaels said it should be fine. Besides, if we were attacked, the resulting chaos would be perfect for our getaway.

…

"Some apartment…" Ike muttered, staring at the exterior. They hadn't even ringed the bell and Kate knew how bad it must've been already.

Tull rang said bell and they waited for a few moments, hoping the brothers were home. Just a few moments later, an overly skinny-looking salarian answered. His eyes were glassy and tired, and Kate could see his body was too fragile- even for a salarian.

_He must have some kind of malnutrition going on_, she thought.

"Jilan? It's me, Tull." Kate glanced at the turian, raising her brows only slightly.

"Tull? It's been a long time. Come in…" the salarian was so hollow that Kate doubted he even knew left from right anymore.

They walked into the small apartment as Jilan walked to the back. Ike looked around idly and scratched the back of his head awkwardly while Tull looked downward quietly. Kate knew what it was like to live in slums but even where they were was almost as bad as it had been before, where she lived when she was younger. At least rats weren't a problem.

"You know him?" she asked, looking to Tull as she kept an eye on Jilan.

"Yeah, we ran into each other a few times when I still worked for Aria. He helped me out a few times too, but I haven't seen him in a while." The turian answered.

Kate led them to the back of the apartment then, wanting to see what the small salarian was doing.

"Dustil… Dustil, we have visitors." He muttered quietly, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. Kate could smell blood even from where she stood and it seemed off. She was familiar with similar scents, and it told her the one named Dustil was injured and it was most likely infected.

Slowly, Dustil awoke and became lucid, stirring in his makeshift bed. His sunken eyes blinked open and sluggishly tracked through the room, seeing the visitors. Kate could even see he could barely stay awake at that point, let alone register just who they were.

"Hello…" his small voice was even weaker than his brother's.

"How long?" Kate asked, slightly forcefully, staring straight at Jilan. He seemed to understand and looked down at his brother for a few moments.

"Six days. I wish I could take him to the hospital, but we-… we have no money." He said, his voice low.

Kate closed her eyes, knowing exactly what Alexis would do were she there. Even without needing the two brothers, she would help them as much as she could with no want of reward. The thought brought a calm to Kate's mind and she opened her eyes once more. Tull looked to her and she nodded, seeing him relax slightly before she activated her headset.

"Thea? We have a bit of a situation." She started, turning her back to the others and walking toward the door.

"_Yes, Kate?" _the AI answered back.

"We found the Trios brothers but one of them is seriously infected and the other is at least malnourished." She said, looking down and crossing her arms.

"_I would suggest bringing them aboard. The med-bay has the facilities to help." _ Thea responded, sounding calm as always. Kate looked back up and started back for the others.

"We'll be there in ten minutes." She answered back before deactivating the comm.

"So what are we doing?" Ike asked, getting fidgety. He always had been sensitive to other people's suffering.

"The Exodus is their best bet; we need to get them to the med-bay." She answered.

Without another word, Tull bent and gingerly picked Dustil up. Jilan stood, getting as excited as he could.

"Really? You'll- you'll help us?" he asked in disbelief, clasping his hands together. Kate regarded him silently, hoping he could walk back to the ship without collapsing.

"We need your help on our ship." She said simply.

"Y-yes, anything!" he stated vehemently, nodding quickly.

At that, they left the apartment with intent to hurry and not get caught up in any fights.

…

"Why would she even want us to get this stuff?" Joya grumbled, gesturing to the note in her hand.

"Believe it or not, Omega has a great selection to choose from. The Captain was right in asking." He answered.

"What are we going to do with these things? They're useless!" she retorted, getting more riled up.

"They are not useless." Praxis muttered, frowning in that turian way.

"Really? What are going to do with them?" she asked sarcastically.

"Use them." He replied.

"How are you going to 'use' a bag of dried fruit, a container of bugs and a bunch of games we can't even play? Oh, and let's not forget the fact that we have to also get all this food I've never even heard of!" Joya shot back, raising her voice.

"Sprits, human, do you ever stop talking?" Praxis asked with a sigh, shaking his head.

"Maybe I don't! What are you going to do about it?" she demanded, puffing out her chest slightly as she straightened, staring Praxis in the eye.

"Why you-!" her started, fisting his hands as he leaned down at Joya.

"_Shiva has requested to brew coffee, Praxis. It may be prudent to hurry." _Thea's sudden input deflated both of them to the point of surprise. They glared at each other for a few moments before both turned away from each other.

Praxis shook his head and headed towards the market with Joya in tow, grumbling.

…

"Oh! Oh no! I got you now!"

Isaac and Lucien looked to each other, furrowing their brows. The bartender back at Afterlife had told them Izan was most likely hanging out in the simulator studio. Lucien figured it was just a high-tech arcade or something, but it sounded a lot more fun. When they got there, it was as loud and full of lights as one would expect from such an arcade in New York or Tokyo. Okay, maybe it was larger and had real air conditioning but it was close.

"Don't even! Don't even! I'm gonna crush all you noobs!"

Lucien couldn't help but notice it was a turian voice yelling those words. He sounded just like a guy he used to play with on Live back home. Well, excluding the fact he was a turian.  
>Lucien led the way forward and turned a nearby corner to see two people, one turian and one human, holding holo-weapons and shooting at a screen. They had helmets on and both were so absorbed in the game that Lucien doubted they noticed they were even there.<p>

"Ah… Hello, I'm-"

"No wait! I gotta get to de rendezvous ya big jackhammer!" the human cut Lucien off easily, yelling excitedly. Isaac and Lucien looked to each other with widened eyes.

"That guy…" Isaac started, whispering.

"He's Jamaican…!" Lucien finished.

"Awesome!" they both cheered, high-fiving.

"Cover me!" the turian called, running forward on his platform. They both had their own platforms that were about eight feet in diameter and moved like an all-directions treadmill. Every step the turian made caused the platform's surface to move as well, giving him unlimited room, essentially.

"Ya gotta hurry it up man! Let's go already!" the Jamaican man answered back, laughing when he downed an enemy on the screen.

"Should we do something? They could be here for hours." Isaac muttered, seeing them freak out when a grenade was thrown.

"Move yu backside!" he yelled again. The turian growled and ran to the right on his platform.

"Shoot him or I will!"

"He box mi face!"

"I got him in my sights!"

"Yeah, get 'im bredda!"

They went on like that for another few minutes before Lucien got tired of it. He stepped forward and pressed the cancel button, effectively shutting off the simulation. The turian and the human paused as if registering their game had just been shut off for no reason.

"Yu break it again!" the Jamaican yelled, ripping his helmet off and turning on the turian angrily. The turian did the same and flared his mandibles, poking a claw at the man.

"I didn't do anything wrong! I bet _you_ broke it; I was about to kill the boss, but nooo you had to keep the high score!"

"Yu idiot! I did nothing-"

"Hey!" Isaac suddenly shouted, making the two arguing people jump in surprise. Both looked to Lucien and Isaac after a moment and realization gleamed in their eyes.

"I got it! It was-" the Jamaican slapped his hand over the Turian's mouth before he could finish his sentence and pointed at them.

"You two did it!" he stated triumphantly, grinning that he got it out instead of the Turian.

…

"Looks like you guys really want me on your ship." Michaels said in an almost satisfied tone, smirking.

"No. I really don't." Ayashe muttered, standing behind my shoulder. I smiled slightly to her comment.

"It would be appreciated. Of course, if you'd rather not…" I trailed off, sending a small look to the airlock, telling him I could pretty much find someone else. He seemed to know what he was doing and how to deal with negotiations, so I figured I might as well not let him get too confident. At least his sarcasm was more entertaining than irritating, as some people were.

"Nah, I got you. Besides, I get my own bed, right? Can't pass that up. Oh, and free meals too." He smiled. I smirked and nodded, shaking his hand once more.

"Welcome aboard then." I said. I could almost feel Ayashe's sigh behind me and I imagined her scrunched nose and crossed arms. I wasn't sure why she didn't like him, but it was possible she was just cautious toward strangers- especially ones who hung out on Omega.

"_Captain."_ Thea's voice came on over the speakers, getting my attention.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking to the ceiling.

"_You are needed in the med-bay."_ She answered. I felt a little worried over that, but I looked back to Michaels.

"Get settled and take care of what business you still have; we'll leave in two days." I said, to which he nodded.

I then left, heading for the med-bay.

…

"How is he?" I asked, looking awkwardly at the robot. Apparently, since we didn't have an actual doctor, we had a robot instead until we did get one. The thing looked more advanced and stable than the ones you shot at in the games, but I couldn't help but feel weird about it. The thing was creepy.

"Patient 01's wound was treated. Stable health at the moment; no permanent damage. One week of rest recommended for riddance of infection." It responded, the metallic voice pretty much the same as the other robots. I nodded and looked from Dustil to his brother, seeing Jilan was in the next bed.

"And Jilan?" I asked.

"Patient 02's malnutrition can be cured by a stable diet and healthy foods rich in carbohydrates and proteins. Also needs rest to treat stress and regain alertness. Stable." It answered back.

"Well that's good." I replied, giving the datapad back to the mech.

Jill floated over then, handing me another datapad.

"Another dossier for you, Captain!" the smile in her voice only seemed to make me feel even more tired than I was. I sighed before heading out of the med-bay, steering for the elevator. I had a feeling we'd be on Omega for more than just recruiting and I didn't like it. Still, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Not to mention it was possible we'd get in another firefight or get kidnapped or something. Whoever had been following me and the others must've had some kind of agenda…

**A/N: Once again, I apologize for the slowness of this coming out, but even so I hope you all liked it.**


	11. False Alarm?

**Disclaimer: How many different ways are there to say or write how you don't own something?**

**Vivian Uchiha: Okay, of you say so; it makes more sense, anyway. Thanks. :)**

**BAMS: Thanks man.**

**Praesidio Umbra: Uumm… he shot three guys in their faces and took down a Krogan… I don't think that means he's softened up. Besides, you didn't really give me much detail on the 'personality/interaction' bit. Still, I tried to keep him from getting all Mary Sue and such; getting him to take everyone down or talk like he's some boss will create a rift in the flow, as they say. ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: I'm glad you still like me, HB. And yes, your impersonation was… striking. ;) So, the Jamaican is now your favorite character? Is it only because of the accent or his personality too? Either way, I like him too. Thanks for the praise as well, milady. ;) And please; try to get some sleep? For me? ;-;**

**AlexisBlade: I suppose it's because they don't have much choice in the matter. I'm glad you like it though! I'll also try to read your story to get the similarities too, since I don't want to make something sound familiar, yeah? Anyway, thanks for the review!**

**Liege Lord: Oh yeah, they do still need to find out who sent them there and why… Well, I only write the story as it goes, I don't make all the decisions- Alexis does. It's better if they find out later though, because knowing everything right off the bat will be a little boring, right?**

**A/N: Here, chapter, chapter, chapter! Here, chapter, chapter- Oh! There you are. ^.-**

"What yu do dat for, huh? I'm gonna beat yu two up and make yu inta fruit juice!" the Jamaican man declared, before leaping forward and attaching himself to Isaac's back.

"No! Get him off, get him off, get him off of me!" Isaac screamed, running around like a headless chicken while the Jamaican ringed his neck and Noogied him continuously.

The turian pulled his handgun from his belt and stared Lucien down as his mandibles twitched frantically in irritation. Lucien tensed and took a step back, feeling his body start up the flow of adrenaline.

_That's a real freaking gun! _He thought, trying not to flip out.

"Nobody messes up my high score and gets away with it! Aaahh!" the turian, Izan, yelled, running at Lucien like a mad man.

He did what any normal teenage guy would do when being attacked by a crazy alien who just got his video game interrupted; He ran screaming.

…

"What do you mean, you don't sell Preia water?" Praxis shouted, throwing his arms into the air. Joya rolled her arms at his dramatics, her arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

"The supply was poisoned again, okay! Now get lost before I call security!" the batarian merchant shot back. The response only seemed to annoy Praxis further, seeing as how he fisted his hands. Or claws. Or sausages, whatever the hell they called them.

"I don't care! We can purify it ourselves!" the turian argued back, slamming said fist on the counter. Joya had figured the guy had temper issues, but this was ridiculous. If anyone, shouldn't it have been that Ayashe person? She was raised by a Krogan, after all.

"That doesn't matter! The entire supply's nutrients are all gone; the best you'd get is pretty sewer water!" the merchant yelled back, losing his barely contained irritation.

"Then get more!" Praxis was definitely losing his cool.

"Even if we order another shipment it won't come for another two weeks!" The batarian ground, tensing.

Praxis shot his arm out then and gripped the batarian's collar, pulling him forward. He locked eyes with the merchant with dangerously glittering eyes.

"Get me that water _now _if you want to keep all of your beady eyes, merchant!" Praxis growled lowly, his mandibles clicking deliberately in intimidation.

There was a silence until the batarian relented and put his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, alright, fine- you can have the spare supply that's not poisoned." He said. Praxis let him go and allowed him to go into the back to set up the transfer. Joya looked to him for a moment, seeing him cool off.

"How'd you know they had another supply?" she asked. The cook glanced at her before looking away once more, taking a breath.

"When shipments get poisoned or contaminated they need a clean supply to last until the new shipment comes in. It's not as much but it'll last me a while." He answered, much less animalistic than he had been before.

"Why this water? Can't you just get something else for cooking?" she inquired.

"Preia water has a lot of good nutrients in it and it adds a certain flavor to foods for any race. Not to mention it makes cooking a lot easier." He explained.

Moments later, the batarian came back with the transfer information.

…

"_Captain."_ I looked to the ceiling in question, wondering what else Thea wanted to bother me about.

"Jill already gave me another dossier, Thea, wait until I'm done at least to-"

"_Lucien and Isaac are in trouble."_ The AI stated, cutting me off.

I blinked, and then furrowed my brows as I processed just what she said.

"What kind of trouble?" I asked slowly, trying to keep from spontaneously spazzing out.

"_I do not know. Isaac only screamed intelligibly over the comm before shutting it off." _she replied. I should've known we'd run into complications before leaving Omega. I sighed and looked around the Mess to see Kate, Ike and Tull sitting at a table in the Mess.

"Hey, are you guys up for another recruit?" I asked, by way of greeting. Kate looked up and I could almost see the relief in her eyes at seeing me. it made sense, given we'd almost never parted ways ever since we'd met those six years before.

"What about you?" Ike asked, the first to break the tenseness of the atmosphere around the group. I could understand the brooding but the Trios brother would be fine, so cheering up shouldn't hurt.

"I need to get going on a rescue first." I said, handing the pad to Ike.

Before I knew it there was a hand on my shoulder. I looked back and saw Brandon and Ayashe with set expressions. Looks like I still had backup. I nodded in gratitude before turning back to Kate and the others.

"Just don't push yourselves too hard, alright? This one should be easy; get in, get out." I said, earning nods in return.

I left with my two companions then, wanting to hurry it up before anything bad happened.

…

"Get him off!"

"I'm busy here!"

"You ruined my high score!"

"Fruit juice!"

I blinked as an owl would as I watched the scene in front of me play out. Isaac was running around in a spazz attack with someone smashing his head with noogies while Lucien ran in zigzags to try and get away from a screaming turian. As chaotic as the situation, I had the urge to laugh. I managed to hold it in, but it seemed that not many people had the same discipline.

Ayashe bust a gut on the floor.

I looked back at her in disbelief only to see Brandon's twitching face as he held it all in. I flanged my arms out and shook my head before taking a breath, finding I hadn't locked it up so well. Ignoring Ayashe's theatrics I turned back to see Isaac was now screaming like an old woman whose curls were on fire.

I couldn't hold it in enough to keep the huge smirk off my face by then, and I was still struggling.

Deciding it had been enough, I stepped forward to break them up and try to calm the raging strangers down. Of course, it turned out that it was Isaac's ridiculous screaming that stopped everyone in their tracks. Soon, all of us were laughing one way or another.

Now, how to explain things…?

**A/N: Sorry for the slowness of my pace lately everyone, I've just been researching a few things like crazy. Hope you still love me!**

…**Please? ;-;**


	12. Hurdle One

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything I don't create. There, I said it.**

**Liege Lord: I've had inside reactions like that, but I've never actually jumped anybody before. Either way, it always pissed me off when I was interrupted in the middle of important things in VGs. Wait, what am I saying? I still get like that! And I love you guys too. ;)**

**Praesidio Umbra: It's alright man, everyone likes to be BAMF from the start- I do too, but I hold myself back for realism. Either way, don't worry about it; I promise not to kill of your character or anything just because of it, okay? And thanks for the praise, it made me feel better. ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: Aw cool, you know a Jamaican guy? I wish I did! Well I do know one, we just don't talk much. Anyway, I'm very happy to hear you liked the chapter- I didn't know if you/Ayashe would laugh in that situation, so I let my hands keep typing. Phew, I feel better now! Love ya, HB! ;)**

**A/N: I wonder if any new recruits will come up on Omega after we leave. Why do I say that? Because I think we'll be departing this chapter! I've had enough of this place!**

"Oh, so that's why you interrupted the game…" Izan trailed off thoughtfully, calm for the first time in an hour. Lucien and Isaac were still tired out but at least they were being good sports about being chased around like runaway slaves.

"Hey! What about me? This turian don't know his britches from the back of a donkey!" the Jamaican man, Evander Grant, shouted angrily. I heard Ayashe's muffled snicker and held in my own humor; a Jamaican guy who said things like pirates did (britches). Funny.

"What are you saying? That I'm stupid? 'cause if you are, I'm gonna beat you senseless!" Izan burst out, turning on his companion. Evander turned on him as well and jut his chin out.

"So what if I'm sayin' yu dumb! What do yu think yu can do about it?" Evander said, smirking.

"Oh you just did _not_ say what I think you said!" Izan raised his voice, leaning down at Evander. Said man, copied his movement and smirked wider.

"Yu deaf now too? How about I fix that for yu too?" he suggested, pushing Izan over the edge.

The short-tempered turian shot his hands out and ringed Evander's neck. The Jamaican man gripped his wrists and braced his feet on Izan's legs. Utilizing the leverage, Evander began stepping up his legs. He went until his feet were pressed firmly against the turian's stomach, pushing hard even as he was being strangled.

I sighed, wondering why the hell Thea would tell me whoever gave us the ship would want these two tantrum-prone weirdoes. Still, they were entertaining to watch.

"Can you break them up for me, Ayashe?" I asked, looking back to my twitching companion. She let out a burst of quiet laughter before she calmed down and nodded in affirmation. Real mature, Ms. I'm-a-Krogan's-kid-and-I'm-older-than-you-so-ha.

…

Once they calmed down-again-we got to actual business. If I was supposed to recruit them, then who was I to say no? Besides, I had little choice in the matter; I was still freaked out over randomly popping up in another universe/reality/time. Jeez.

"What are your skills, Evander? Izan's for the Battery but…" I said, furrowing my brows in question.

"Wat! Dis guy?" he asked incredulously, poking a finger in Izan's side with widened eyes. "He can do nothing without me! If yu leave me behind yu die! Yu turn inta fruit juice at bad people's hands! Is dat good enough for yu?" at my confusion, he stepped forward, toward me. I had a feeling he really wanted out of Omega.  
>"I can do other tings too! Like cook! Or clean!" he stated, making sweeping gestures with his arms. "Oh! I can do all dat and calibrate systems- the <em>right<em> way!" he added, looking pointedly toward Izan. "And I-"

I put my hands up before he continued, figuring I might as well bring him along. Besides, Thea made room for a teenager. I'm sure Evander would be welcome as well, even if the grumpy AI got all huffy with me. Not to mention I was the captain- not her. Maybe I'd get used to the authority part after all?

"Alright, you can come. Just don't break anything- both of you." I stated, giving them both a look in the eye.

"Yu got it boss lady!" Evander grinned, saluting me. Izan smacked him in the arm before giving me a nod of his own.

"To be honest, we were on our last leg, here. Spirits, you came just in time." He said, smiling in that turian way with his mandibles. The way they flared like that made me think he was going to try and eat my head or something though.

"_Uuhh, Captain?"_ Tull's sudden voice startled me a bot but I kept from jumping into the air, luckily. If I had, I would've been embarrassed at looking a little crazy and all.

"Why do I feel like you've got bad news?" I asked, gaining a hold on myself for once.

…

"Well that's the problem…" Tull glanced back to a mushy, stinking mass before turning back hurriedly. It took a small cough for him to keep from gagging. Sure, he'd come across some pretty gross things in his days with Aria, but nothing as bad as whatever was smeared on the floor. "The recruit we were supposed to get? He's pretty dead." He finally managed, closing his eyes momentarily. He didn't like seeing dead bodies like that; they used to have identities, lives, maybe even families. Like the body they came across, it too was once a person.

He could hear the Captain's sigh through the comm and couldn't blame her. She had been taking care of everyone as best she could so far, and for the week and a half he'd been a part of her crew he'd felt a lot better than he had in years. Working with Aria had its pleasures, but nothing really fulfilling, worth all the things he used to do to people. It was just too bad he had to go through that to get a grip on reality.

He knew there was no way to be a good person and keep up a reputation like Aria's- untouchable, impenetrable, easy to annoy but hard to fuck with. Even so, he hoped to the Spirits Captain Ivanova would be able to break that barrier. He could see she was a stand up human with a 'golden heart', as they say, even if she didn't quite show it; it would be a waste if she were ever to become just another bloodsucker in the galaxy.

"What position was he to be in?" the Captain inquired, regaining Tull's attention. He barked at himself on the inside to pay attention and not get fired for being too unfocused- he didn't wasn't to lose his new job now that he had a chance to make a difference. Raising the datapad, he scanned the information before responding.

"A CIC guy. His name was Gregory Castro." Tull answered.

"I see…." She trailed off, suddenly in a more somber mood. "Come back then; I can't have anyone else getting hurt." She ordered finally, relieving Tull. She was still in control, at least.

Unforeseen hurdle successfully dodged.

"You got it." He answered, before shutting off the comm. He then turned to the other two humans and waved a hand toward him. "Let's go before we get jumped ourselves." He said, already turning to walk away.

…

"Hey, Kate." Ike muttered, failing to look discreet as he leaned toward her. She felt an urge to punch him for starting up his antics so soon after she told him to shut up, but she knew he's only just brush it off after a few hours.

"What?" she asked in turn, not bothering to whisper like a paranoid idiot. Ike pouted before saying anything more.

"Those guys stopped following us." He said, catching Kate's attention. She glanced at him, surprised he'd even noticed they had been followed in the first place. She had known the whole time, given she grew up most of her life on the streets, but Ike was some coddled rich kid who happened to have a genius mind and a childish disposition.

"I know." She muttered, getting annoyed.

"Why?" Ike asked, as oblivious as he'd always been.

"They must've bee subordinates of Aria's or some crime lord. When they had no idea who we were or what our business was, they probably got paranoid and sent dogs after us. If they were called off then they figured we're no threat right now." She explained, using one of the only logical paths she knew of in the futuristic world.

She didn't like being stuck in a reality fabricated or copied into a game but she had to deal with it. If Alexis was alright with being stuck for the moment then she was too.

…

I stood in the cockpit the next day, looking out of the window intently. It was good to be leaving Omega but I had a feeling we'd be back no matter what happened in the future. There was something about the place that seemed like there was a clue to why we were sent to Mass Effect there, but I couldn't be sure. And with Thea's nagging me about how we had to hurry up and leave, I figured we could try next time.

If we didn't die a horrible fiery death, anyway.

"Is everyone aboard?" I asked, rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, Captain." Thea answered.

"Supplies packed and secured?"

"Affirmative."

"Stowaways of any kind?" I inquired cautiously, narrowing my eyes on nothing in particular.

"Negative, Captain. We are cleared for launch." She replied, lending me a small amount of comfort.

"Alright, then; let's get out of here." I said finally, accepting the situation.

"Yes Captain." Thea returned, releasing the Exodus from the docking clamps and firing up the engines. Or whatever the hell this thing ran on.

I watched as we passed through the nebula and leaned my forearms on the back of the pilot's seat idly. There was nothing for me to do at the moment, given Jill was so helpfully showing a few new people around or giving people directions. It was a big ship and I had already gotten lost several times already.

Ayashe was a good person with few issues, but her dad being missing was a big one. I could understand the feeling of a loved one vanishing with no sign or clue as to where they went or even if they were okay, but all I could do was to help her look and be there when she needed my help after we found the old man. Wow, I hadn't even met the Krogan and I was already calling him 'old man'.

Tull was a good one, as well as his two friends, even if they were a tad reclusive. I had a feeling it was because the armory had so much for them to get used to and figure out and discover. I'd do the same if I had any real free time but with Thea running me around like a slave and Jill giving me tons of work, there was no way I could do so.

Sheva was a beautiful person inside and out, even if she was a little quirky. Her daughter had some spunk but she was better than any human teenagers I'd known back home in terms of common sense. The two of them had taken well to the Exodus and even brought the lemur along. The thing still followed me around and stared at me with those wide, yellow eyes.

The Trios brothers were alright and so far, I figured they were also alright people. The brothers had stuck together and all, so they couldn't be all bad. I wondered briefly over how they had used to be STG members and if they ever met Mordin but I could save the questions for later. They needed a roof over their heads and I need their help. It was the least I could do to keep them healthy while we were at it.

Praxis was pretty cool so far as well even though it was apparent Joya had a knack for irritating him. I almost thought she got a kick out of it on the inside, but I couldn't quite believe she'd be aggravating on purpose like that. He was a good cook and good company when he wasn't mad. He may have had a temper but he got results and I loved food so I doubted he'd have trouble staying in place.

The thought brought my mind to Izan and Evander. The two were almost as quirky and weird as Sheva was but they were a lot more (violently) excitable than she was. They had already gotten into a fight with Praxis the night before when they first came onto the ship. How it happened, I have no idea, but one second they were joking around, having a good time, the next, they were at each other's' throats. I had a feeling it would be a common occurrence with the new hotheads of the crew.

Kallithea and Mels were our two lab workers other than Sheva so far, and they certainly seemed to know their stuff. I had briefly visited them every day since I'd recruited them, given they practically locked themselves into the lab when they saw all the tech they could play with and I got to see how smart salarians really were. Kallithea was more serious but she loved explaining things to me to show how smart she was or to genuinely help me understand something. Mels was a tad quirky like Mordin and he reminded me of the old salarian quite well. He liked to tinker with things and experiment on whatever he could get his hands on, which was funny in its own sort of way.

There wasn't much I could say for Michaels save for how much Ayashe disliked him. I suppose she just wasn't a trusting person, like me, but with the guy's track record in black market dealing, it was understandable she'd be a little upset. Not that he would do anything, but caution never overlooked options. Still, he seemed like an okay guy with plenty of skills and a bit of humor, so I'd give him a chance. I hoped Ayashe would be alright soon as well, given she scrunched her nose at him whenever he passed by.

Overall, I had a nice crew so far.

That thought brought me to the recruits I'd be getting soon and I could only hope they would be alive once I got to them. With the creepy robot doctor, I also hoped we'd be getting a real, organic doctor that didn't stare silently like a creepy neighbor until you said something to it. I'd even just be happy if the robot stopped creeping me out with its red, glowy eyes and seemingly permanent glare.

"Where are we headed?" I asked, coming back to reality.

"Cartagena Station. This will take a while, Captain, so I suggest you attain some level of rest before resuming your duties in the morning." Thea replied. I sighed, dropping my head onto the seat for a moment. I had little real energy left and my new, big bed was calling to me. Even so, I felt like I was forgetting something.

I raised my head and straightened then, pushing the thought away. If I had forgotten something then Thea would've mentioned it. It was hard to believe I'd already become slightly accustomed to talking to an Artificial Intelligence let alone to depending on her to keep me in shape even as much as I hated it. Now that I thought of it, if EDI and Thea were organics then I'd think they were mother and daughter or something. Really, the similarities fit. Funny, huh?

Shaking my head at my own strangeness, I headed off to bed.

**A/N: So, did you like? I'm sorry if it wasn't funny enough but I'm tired given I haven't slept well lately and all. **

**I love you HB!**

**(I just felt like saying it I guess…) ^.^'**


	13. Hate For The Win! Wait, What?

**Disclaimer: I only own whatever I create, along with my vagina. It's mine.**

**BAMS: Thanks man. ^.^**

**Hopelessly Blue: Yay! Ur da best! I'm not totally sure what the guy was supposed to do, but maybe we'll find out later, huh? And on the note of Ayashe, I am very happy you believe in me! XD *mentally jumps for joy* For the whole sleeping habits though, I need to admit to my insomnia. I've had it since I was just a kid and all, so… Anyway, I got some awesome sleep when you tucked me in! Thanks for that- Love ya lots! **

**Lolguy2: Um… thanks for the… OC request… and all. Anyway, I'll see what I can do, alright? In the meantime, keep reading my stories; it makes me feel good to hear from people!**

**Liege Lord: Why thank you, my good friend. *tips hat* And yes, the mother-daughter thing is pretty interesting, no? Of course it is- I wrote it! JK, man. XD**

**A/N: My friend has me captive so let me get this chapter to you guys before she rapes me. DX**

I yawned, staring blankly into a big nothing in the Captain's quarters. I was a little bummed over the fact I and my friends only had the one set of clothes we came over in to wear; with our little trip to Omega, I felt grimier than I ever had in my life- and that's saying something, considering I was homeless for so long.

"_Is something the matter, Captain?"_ Thea asked suddenly, catching my attention. I sighed dramatically and scratched the back of my head, disturbing the lemur's nap on my lap. Apparently, Alyssa had decided I'd be the one to name the damn thing and raise it, given it was young for a lemur.

"I want new clothes!" I groaned, hating how I just took a shower only to have to put on Omega-stained clothes. How they got stained, I have no idea, but I wasn't going to question it.

"_Your closet is full of available attire, Captain, I am sure you can find something to your liking."_ The AI replied, confusing me.

"You couldn't tell me before that I had a closet? And where is it?" I asked, getting up with the lemur in my arms. It was kind of cute how it snuggled into me and since its eyes were closed I didn't have to stare at it.

"_Adjacent to your bed on the side wall."_ I followed Thea's directions and found myself staring at said wall.

"Umm…" I trailed off, trying to find the door that didn't seem to be there. Experimentally, I took a step forward. The wall opened suddenly, revealing the hidden door and, inside, a big closet. I blushed a bit, recalling Shepard's bathroom from the second game and walked in.

Wow. Thea wasn't kidding when she said the thing was full- it was a big walk-in with more than three quarters of it filled with clothes; everything was even labeled! To my left in the corner was a medium-sized laundry bin; next to it was a small section for gloves and gauntlets. Next to that was the shoe/boot section and the hats in the next corner. On the other side of the room was a small, open closet for tops/jackets while the lower section of it was for pants and bottoms. A window adorned the far side of the room with a couch in front of it for relaxation, I guessed. In that far corner were the accessories; next to that was a small section with the mirror scene and make-up (which I will never use). Next, taking up the wall next to me and the last corner was a section for weapons and all sets of armor; I even saw an empty space for the light armor clothing I was wearing at the moment.

All in all, it was the coolest, largest, most awesome closet I'd ever been in- there was even a rug on the floor and benches and chairs smattered around the room!

"Dude…" I whispered, feeling my mind get blown away all over again.

"_Please discard your current clothing for decontamination, Captain." _Thea said, reminding me I was wearing gross clothes.

Grumbling to myself, I undressed and threw the clothes into the laundry bin thingy. She could've told me I had a closet hidden in the wall before, that freaking AI. Once free, I stepped over to the open closet across the room and looked in.

"Holy crap! These are my clothes!" I burst out, startling the lemur in my arms and causing it to rouse from its nap. I kept looking and, as the lemur perched itself onto my shoulders, used both of my hands to look through the neat set-up. There were also a lot of new clothes too, but my own being in the closet gave me a heavy feeling of nostalgia.

Slowly, I drew out the shirt I wore on my last birthday party I'd had back home- the day I'd turned twenty. It may have been a simple collared black t-shirt that had the N7 emblazoned on the left breast, but… I don't know, it was just a piece of home I thought I'd lost forever. My heart sank at the reminder and my eyes misted, but I kept myself from turning into a big baby. I had a new life and something more to live for now.

I put the shirt back where it had been on the shelf and sifted through the clothing, seeing most of it in small sections. There were dresses in the end spot nearer to the window too, not that I'd wear them. With a sigh, I walked all the way over to the 'complete outfits' section. Narrowing my eyes in suspicion as I saw several familiar outfits, I drew closer to see-

"No freaking way." I stated, widening my eyes at what was before me. "These are all outfits from all of the games I've ever played!" I almost yelled, starting to get a little hysterical. How could these possibly even be here? And my own clothes too! Something was supremely fishy about the whole set-up with Exodus, but at the moment, I couldn't care less- I had all of the outfits I'd ever wanted to wear in front of me!

The only problem?

"What the hell should I wear first?" I realized, pausing in my excitement.

"Thirty minutes to Cartagena station, Captain." Thea chimed in, partially breaking me from my slight stupor.

"Alright Thea. Do my friends have closets like this too?" I asked suddenly, wondering if they also got awesome outfits.

"Their clothing storage spaces are not as large but yes. Ike and Lucien's are also set for males." Thea responded smoothly, apparently unfazed by my excitement.

"Then tell them about it so they can change into clean clothes too! Oh, and make sure they all wear different outfits, would you?" I requested, looking to the ceiling briefly.

"Of course, Captain." The AI answered back, this time sounding almost amused.

Now, to figure out what to wear…

…

I ended up deciding to wear the Officer outfit from AC:B. It was oddly fitting and with a little customization, it felt perfect. The only difference to mine and the one from the game was the strange symbol sewn into the inside of the vest. I wasn't quite sure of what it meant but it was on most of the clothes in my entire closet, along with the armor- which was also extensive, by the way. I hadn't realized the sections were so large until I found the button on the side of each one saying 'Rotate'. Apparently, these things were on belts or something, like at the dry cleaner's.

Anyway, I made my way to the airlock.

Once down there, I saw the others were waiting for me. Lucien was wearing Adam Jensen's clothes from Deus Ex, Joya was wearing Vanguard clothing from AC:B, Ike had the rogue armor from DAII on and Kate wore Alexia Dane's steampunk-styled clothing, surprisingly. Still, we looked like a badass crew, especially with our scary ass gauntlets stuck on our arms. I had tried to go into the armory earlier that day to get a few just-in-case weapons, but a lot of the sections were locked down; the only open ones had light to medium handguns. Still, I grabbed a few that Brandon deemed useable and handed them to my team.

"We're here for three people who are supposed to be for the CIC. We'll spilt into two-man groups for this one but if there's any trouble, keep the comm on." I said, handing out two of the three dossiers. Ayashe came up as well, toting her personal shotgun and AR as usual, smirking slightly to herself, making me wonder if something was funny.

"I'll go with. My dad could be here somewhere so I'm leaving anyway." She said, by way of greeting. I blinked and sighed before nodding; I might as well have brought her to at least keep her out of any possible danger/trouble. Besides, she was really good company once she loosened up a little. She was still a bit tense around humans but it seemed to me she was quite good at hiding it. Either that or she was getting to trust me a little bit.

"Alright, you can go with Kate. Joya, you're with Lucien and Ike, you're with me." I said, getting a cheer from my blond haired friend (Ike). Michaels then walked up, all in his armor and such.

"I'll be out for a few hours if that's okay with you, Captain. I need to get a few upgrades and some information." He said, to which I raised a brow.

"Sure, why not? We're leaving the station in two hours." I stated, before leading the way out of the ship.

…

"Who are we getting?" Ayashe asked Kate, looking to her questioningly.

"William Castro. Gregory Castro's brother." At Kate's stiff answer, Ayashe grimaced.

"The brother of the guy you found all dead and stuff?" she asked.

"Yes." Kate replied shortly. Ayashe could tell the woman wasn't pleased, but she didn't have to get her panties in a wad!

As if reading her thoughts, Kate glanced at Ayashe with piercing eyes. Even though she was a Krogan's kid, Ayashe felt a small shiver go up her spine in response. She couldn't help but wish she were with Captain Ivanova instead; she was much more accommodating and less threatening.

Kate suddenly looked away and continued walking as if nothing had happened. It seemed to Ayashe that she could very well be a lone wolf type, which was weird because she and the Captain were often talking quietly with each other. Then again, both had that unapproachable aura about them that normally scared people off. It was a wonder she had warmed up to the Captain at all, but she couldn't help but like her sarcastic humor.

Snapping from her thoughts, Ayashe looked up to see Kate looking oddly at her. She realized she hadn't been walking and hurried to the waiting woman before she said something mean. Ayashe wasn't a big fan of conflict, but she had confidence in her abilities were it to come down to it. After all, she was raised by a Krogan Battlemaster and a former Asari Commando.

Still, she didn't like not being able to talk to someone as they walked…

…

"Why are we getting this geeky kid?" Lucien asked himself, glancing between the dossier and a scrawny-looking guy sitting at a desk, staring down at a plate of food. He looked pretty depressed, if anything.

"Probably because he's a genius at ISC with a dead end job." Joya answered with a ton of sarcasm. Lucien looked back at her with a roll of his eyes and a mock appreciative grimace.

"I don't even know why we're friends sometimes." He grumbled, turning back to looking pointedly at the geek.

"It's only because we're Lexi's friends; otherwise, I wouldn't associate with you." she said, donning a descending tone.

"Whatever. I'm her best friend anyway, so I win." Lucien muttered. Joya glared daggers at the back of his head and socked him right in the side. He grunted and moved to the side. "Don't hit me with those bony hands, twerp!" he hissed, matching her own glare.

"Then don't mouth off, you giant ass Sasquatch!" she growled back, getting in his face.

"I'll do what I want, your majesty!" he yelled.

"Don't you raise your voice at me- I'm not your mother!" she shouted in response.

"Oh, sorry! You have exceeded your monthly limit of bitchiness; please call again!" Lucien shot back, mimicking a pay phone's voice.

"What's with you? Oh, let me guess; you're the kid who made a silly face and it stayed that way!" Joya sneered.

"You know what? That's right! So let's switch places; you be funny and I'll be the asshole!" Lucien shouted, his face growing red.

"Excuse me?" the sudden interruption of a timid voice caught their attention and they snapped their hellish glares to the small man. He jumped a bit at it barely staying his ground as he wringed his hands together. "U-um… please don't scream like that… you're sc-scaring the k-kids." He managed, gesturing to the group of children sitting at a table close by, their eyes widened and tears in a few of them.

"See, look what you did- you scared the children with your banshee screaming!" Joya growled through clenched teeth.

"It was your shrieking that made them cry, you little troll!" Lucien shot back, also through clenched teeth.

"You wanna go? I will destroy your pansy ass!" Joya hissed, now glaring back at Lucien.

"You only wish you could, twigs-for-bones!" Lucien returned, staring back at Joya.

"If you're gonna act like a dick you should wear a condom on your head so you can at least look like one !" Joya snapped, getting in his face.

"P-please!" the geek interrupted again, shaking in his little shined shoes. Lucien and Joya glared back at him again, full force, causing him to squeak a little, trying to gulp down his fear. "Why are y-you here in the f-first place?" he tried cutting down the subject of insulting, looking between them.

"I can't believe your dumb ass forgot about the dossier!" Joya suddenly shouted, once again looking back to Lucien. He did so as well and got even more in her face as his own grew red.

"Yeah, if only the one who knew everything in whole fucking galaxy told me they were wasting time with pathetic insults!" Lucien shot back.

"You're one to talk, penis-breath!" Joya hissed. Lucien reared back in offense and growled before going back to his pissed off state.

"You would know, wouldn't you, you string-bean!" he bellowed.

…

I sighed as I saw we'd be walking into an elevator to get where we were going. The one in the Exodus was much faster since we didn't have loading screens, but I had a feeling publics ones wouldn't have that luxury. Ike whined from behind me as well, telling me he also had that sinking feeling in his stomach.

A lot of people told me they thought of Ike as a male equivalent of a dumb blond but I knew he was much smarter than he let on. After all, he had the good instinct about the elevator just now, so there was no way he'd be as stupid as they-

"I want a hot dog!" … nevermind.

I sighed and shook my head as we stepped into the elevator. I pressed the button for section four, floor eight just as a salarian and a turian walked in as well. They pushed their own buttons and we were off only moments later.

…

"You're such a selfish ding-bat, you know that! I saw you steal Alexis' last soda just this morning!"

"Well that's the pot calling the kettle black! You were the one who swiped Ike's headphones when he wasn't looking!"

"If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart!"

"And if I wanted a bitch for a friend, I would've gotten a dog!"

"A pretty girl can kiss a guy, a bird can kiss a butterfly, and the rising sun can kiss the grass. But you my friend! Yes, you! You can kiss my ass!"

"You only wish I would, you anti-social, overgrown pencil!"

"I'm not fucking anti-social- I just don't like you!"

…

"So…" Ayashe tried, glancing at Kate.

"What?" she asked, not really sounding interested.

"What's your favorite color?" she inquired, using her 'cute voice'. It always worked when her dad was grumpy. All she had to do was be her usual, adorable self and he perked right up. Ayashe was intent on perking Kate up.

"I don't have a favorite." She answered curtly, pursing her lips slightly.

"But you must have one you like a least a teensy bit more?" she tried once more, leaning forward to try and get a good look at her cranky companion's face.

"No." Kate answered with finality, looking right at Ayashe with those eyes again. She stayed her ground though, knowing there had to be some kind of soft spot in there somewhere- she smiled with the Captain once before, she saw it herself!

"A favorite clothing brand?"

"No."

"A favorite kind of dog?"

"No."

"Cat?"

"No."

"Car?"

"No."

"Spaceship?"

"No."

"Flower?" this one got her a slight glare.

"No."

"…Planet?"

"No."

"Really? Not even…" pause for dramatic affect. "Uranus?" she cracked up on her own joke, not even realizing her companion frowned with something akin to disdain.

Kate sighed through her nose, cursing Lexi for sticking chatty Kathy with her of all people.

…

"So…"

I struggled at that point not to strangle someone. This elevator was slower than molasses on a cold December morning!

"I swear, if this thing goes any slower I will die of old age before we get there!" I growled, ignoring the cowering salarian net to me and the tense turian behind me. I guess they weren't used to the feeling of waves of pure hatred assaulting them in such confined spaces.

"Breathe, Lexi, just breathe!" Ike squeaked worriedly, fanning my face for no reason. I caught his wrist and glared at him, making him stop.

We paused for a few more moments as I tried to maintain my sanity. I knew this was a little over the top, but when you get traumatized as a child in an elevator almost resulting in your death then tell me how over the top I'm being!

…

"I can't believe your mother kept you all those years when she had to deal with such a little brat!"

"It's only fair to say she was a saint! Unlike yours, who happened to have a reputation for _eating people!_"

"It's called beef, not people, you ingrown stump! And it was your mother who told her to tell that joke in the first place!"

"I can only say so much for on psychotic lady, but you! She raised you!"

"And I'm a lot fucking smarter than your dumb ass! FYI? You're a fool who doesn't know cheese puffs from a rock!"

"That was one time! And you were the one who threw a cactus at Ike for singing Lollipop!"

"And you gave me that cactus! Thank you for enabling the impending injury!"

"It was so you could get pricked on the poisonous spikes of death!"

"Like your dumb ass could tell the difference between a poisonous one and a harmless shrub! Which you gave me, by the way!"

…

"I hate this freaking elevator!" I seethed, feeling my blood vessels were about to pop.

"It's okay, we're almost there. See?" Ike said with his cute smile, pointing to the now-opening doors.

I sighed in relief and stepped out.

We walked a small ways for a small while before we came to a club-looking place. I recognized it from the Mass Effect game where you played as Jacob instead of Shepard and all. I hadn't much liked the game as much but I played it anyway in hope of seeing Miranda some more and all. What, I like her!

Anyway, I'll try and be dramatic about this situation some other time; I didn't even know what my mates were doing at that point. Either way, I knew where I was. I knew I was in the Mass Effect universe, stuck right outside the club called Fringe.

**A/N: I'm on my knees right now, HB, okay? I'm sorry for my recent slowness and I hope to all that's holy you all still love me- I'll even settle for slight dislike! I love you… ;-;**


	14. Go Back

**Disclaimer: I own what I create myself! Okay! I'm tired of writing these damned disclaimers!**

**Vivian Uchiha: Yeah, sorry I didn't get your character right away- I guess I got distracted or something, IDK. I'll try to get her in soon, and I'll make the adjustments for you and all.**

**Hopelessly Blue: I love you too, HB! I'm glad you liked it and all, considering… And I'm happy I got the Ayashe-Kate conversation right for the most part. It's amazing what you can find out from what and even how people write, eh? Anyway, Joya and Lucien always argue like that over the dumbest things- just like my own brother and I. Ah, well, it can't be helped I suppose. I also totally agree with you on the Miranda subject; it bothers me when people bash her for no reason when they don't even know the whole story. I can totally understand her POV as well, seeing as how I tend to be a little offish to people. DX (And Yvonne Strahovski is sexy as hell, right? Damn!) Of course, you're still my favorite, HB! ;)**

**Liege Lord: I don't usually take any more than five minutes to get ready but now that I have all of these clothes I believe you're correct in saying I'll take a lot more time to get ready and all. Not only do I have to pick out and outfit but I also have to figure out how to get it on! XD**

**A/N: Let's jump right back in, my friends!**

"Station?"

"No."

"Train?"

"No."

"Video game?"

"No."

"Drink?"

"We're here."

Ayashe sighed at Kate's disregard for her and trudged along behind her, trying to think of some way to get her to talk. She had always been able to get people to open up to her in the past, so why not now? Kate must've been a cyborg or something! That would explain a few things, after all.

"William Castro?" Kate asked a man who just exited a shop. He looked to her with furrowed brows.

"Yes? Are you the people who found my brother? Is he alright?" he asked suddenly, looking all too desperate. His mussed hair and messy goatee showed he hadn't been getting much sleep, if anything. Ayashe didn't like seeing people in such states.

"We were meant to recruit him and we did find him, but…" Ayashe started, looking down.

"Your brother is dead." Kate stated. The emotionless tone even sent a bit of a shudder through Ayashe. Did she even care?

"D-dead? But he… he promised he's come back for me… to take me away from here…!" oh, here come the waterworks; William started crying into his hands. Before they knew it, he was crying into Kate's shoulder like some child. Ayashe had the urge to laugh at the sight of the woman's pale face and widened eyes, but for some reason… she felt as if she shouldn't. Other than the crying man, of course.

…

"If we argue any more, Alexis will kick our asses…" Lucien muttered, taking a breath. Joya did so as well and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… I still have the bruise from last time." She said, causing Lucien to blow out a laugh.

"Oh yeah, the geeky guy we're supposed to get…" he said, snapping his fingers in realization.

"Dumb ass…" Joya smirked, to which Lucien only playfully slapped her arm. She turned to the geek still standing there, wringing his hands like a child who was just scolded.

"Kenny Grove, right?" as his nod, she continued. "We need you to come with us." As his fearful expression, Lucien jumped in before he ran away.

"Whoa, not that kind of come with us! We just mean that you're needed on our Ship, the Exodus. We're looking for an engineer with just your talents and all, so we figured we'd come and give you something to do that you're good at with better pay and a lot more fun." Lucien explained quickly, calming the poor man down.

"I see… Who are you people? Pirates, mercenaries… smugglers?" Groves asked, looking between them. Joya and Lucien exchanged glances at that, realizing they had to be recruiting people for some reason. Did Alexis even know why? Even if she didn't, what were her plans for the future, as Captain?

"You'll have to talk to our Captain for details, but I can assure you we aren't bad guys." Lucien said, putting his hands up in an explanatory way.

"W-well, I do hate my boss… and I do get horrible pay…" he muttered, thinking deeply.

"And you look like you need some fun man, seriously." Joya added.

"Hey, why not? I'll join you guys!" Groves smiled, now getting excited. He seemed quite the happy type when he wasn't sitting at a table looking all depressed. Either that or he really hated his job.

…

I wasn't sure why the bouncer outside of Fringe let us in so easy, but I decided not to question it too much. We needed to get in and he said we could go in. Simple as that. Of course, he almost seemed to recognize me. Not that I'd ever seen him; I was good with faces, even if they were aliens.

"Who are we looking for, Lexi?" Ike asked, looking around the loud club. The music was hurting my ears and the lights were bright but at least it wasn't full of scum for the most part, like Omega was.

"Cornelius Winters. He's a CIC guy." I said into his ear so he could hear me. He nodded in return and looked around once more. I scanned the room and saw the guy talking to a bouncer in the corner. I was relieved a little at seeing he wasn't one of the slobs drooling over the dancers.

"Let's go, he's over there!" Ike said, also seeing him. We walked over just as the two finished their conversation and the bouncer walked off. Winters turned as if to leave but we were already in his way, so instead, he looked to us questioningly.

"Look, I have a lot of deliveries to get to today, so if you don't mind…" he started, only to stop when he saw my raised brow. "Alright, what do you want?" he asked.

"You. I've gotten word of your skills with CIM and we'd like to recruit you." I answered, crossing my arms.

"Really? If you're serious, I'll join on as long as I don't have to kill people or deliver pizza." He answered, already ripping off his uniform shirt for the delivery job he mentioned. I furrowed my brows at the display before shaking my head.

"Alright, then. I hate pizza anyway." I said, getting a smile out of Winters and a depressed sigh from Ike. I was the only person I'd ever known who hated pizza but it was who I was. Ike thought it was because I was part demon, saying only demons could hate the 'heavenly taste of awesome pizza'. He was lucky I knew he was teasing.

"Cool. I'm with you guys from now on." Winters said happily, shaking my hand.

…

Once Castro stopped crying like a baby, Kate pushed him off and crossed her arms before skulking off. If Ayashe didn't know any better, she'd think Kate just hated everyone to the bone.

"B-but you came he-here for me-e too, r-ight?" he was doing that hiccup thing from crying, too. Ayashe rubbed his back to try and get him to calm down.

"Yeah, we did. You can leave this place and live a better life like your brother said you would." She answered back.

Castro finally calmed down enough to stand on his own and Ayashe explained to him what they needed him for. He was accepting of it all and even cracked a small smile in knowing he'd get what he wanted in the end.

Once Castro was back to his calmer self and she gave him directions to the Exodus, Ayashe started for where Kate had gone off to.

…

"_Hey Captain?"_ Ayashe's pensive voice filtered into my earpiece, startling me a bit. We had just gotten to the Exodus, too, so Corey (he told us to call him that instead of Cornelius) just shrugged and went inside with Ike to show him around.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"_We got our guy but walked off and now I can't find her. She shut off the comm too._" she sounded quite worried, too. Not many things would get Kate's feathers ruffled up enough to get her to walk away in the middle of something, but I had a feeling I knew what it was. I should've given her a different dossier to deal with.

"It's fine, Ayashe, I'll get her; you just get back to the Exodus with your guy." I said, already jogging away from the ship.

"_Okay, just be careful."_ She answered back.

"You got it." I said with a fond smile, knowing there was practically no chance of me not getting into some trouble.

Before she said any more, I shut off the comm and picked up the pace.

…

Kate knew she should go back. She didn't want to, but she knew she should. Leaving kike that was, admittedly, a little childish. She only did that in the first place because of that wimp crying on her like she was his mother or something. Kate hated tears almost more than anything, believing them to be nothing more than a weakness. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she respected Lexi so much. She never cried, not even at her own father's funeral.

Kate also knew that even though Ayashe spoke a lot, she was only trying to be friendly. Or something along those lines. In any case, she figured she may as well get back before Alexis scolded her for leaving Ayashe alone or some such. With her mind put to rest, she started to make her way back to the location she last saw Ayashe.

Well, that's what she was about to do. There was a group of thug-looking types in her way. They surrounded her quickly to ensure they had the advantage, only irritating Kate more. She narrowed her eyes on the leader, finding him somehow familiar. He was rather large for a human, too, with a well-kept beard and an eye patch. He looked like he belonged in some pirate movie.

"Look who we found, men; one of the 'Shrouds' decided to show up so conveniently." He smirked. Kate wasn't sure what he meant by Shroud, but she did recognize him.

She was looking at the pirate Captain Clint 'Black Eye' Darragh.

**A/N: Who loves quick updates? I know I do!**


	15. Meeting The Pirate Captain

**Disclaimer: Oh hey there. What do I own? Nothing? Gold star for you.**

**Vivian Uchiha: Yep. ;)**

**BAMS: Total agreement here, buddy.**

**Hopelessly Blue: Yeah, I know it comes as a huge shock to everyone, but hey- at least there's more for you, eh? And yeah, Kate is… well, she's a very conflicted and complicated person, much like Raegas or Alexis. Even so, she would be a good friend once she opens up, you're right. I'm glad I got to get a twist in there with Darragh too- I haven't seen him anywhere else either, so… Anyway, I do hope that at least Miranda shows up; she's hot (as we discussed before XD). I figure we'll find out more about the Shroud stuff soon though, right? Love ya! (I kind of feel like announcing it right now, is that weird? XP)**

**Liege Lord: I'm wondering as well, Lordy. Glad you liked! ;)**

**A/N: Now, let's have the humor commence! (Mostly, anyway)**

"Kate, if you can hear me, I'm coming, okay?" I panted, running through the streets of the station, looking everywhere. What if she was taken by the pirates? I had overheard some civilians speaking strange things like 'Black Eye's back!' or 'the pirates are going to start another raid soon…' in hushed whispers.  
>"And if you're not Kate I'm going to kill you." I growled, intending the comment for any who may have been able to take her. Not that she would've gone down without a fight.<p>

I came up to a part of the Dark Commons (Thea told me it was where the pirate bands were normally located) where Kate was last seen. Scanning around, I saw blood on the floor, accompanied by three dead bodies. And one knocked out one. I resisted the urge to growl and stepped to the unconscious man. Bunching my fists in his shirt, I lifted his upper body off the ground, toward my face.

"Uuhh…" he breathed, waking up, no doubt due to my intense glare. Once his eyes were open, I wasn't shocked to find him instantly set to trying to squirm out of my grip.

"Tell me where she is." I spoke lowly, threateningly. If he didn't give me what I needed, I would beat him until he told me. I normally didn't care for conflict all that much but when it came to the safety and security of one of my own… well let's just say there were lengths I would go to fix it.

"W-who?" he stuttered. I narrowed my eyes on him and slowly made my way to the railing overlooking a big drop, like the one in Omega you see before going into Afterlife. I slammed his lower back against the railing and pushed my fists into his chest, sending him halfway over already.

"I'm not here to play games, bottom feeder. Where did they take my friend?" I growled, inwardly shocked at my own lack of patience. Even so, Kate was special… She had always been the only thing I had between me and insanity. The same went for her about me, too.

"Y-you're that new C-captain!" he gasped, as his arms flailed to try and find something to hold on to.

"Explain." I ordered, lightening up on him a little.

"Black Eye got a scary message from Aria T'Loak a few days ago. She said he'd be dealing with some competition soon and that he should look here on Cartagena first. You're already g-getting talked about." He stuttered, breathing quickly.

"Yes…?" I urged, wanting more information on what the hell was going on.

"W-well, uh… the Captain started callin' you guys Shrouds and it stuck. All the pirate bands 'round the Terminus have heard of ya recruiting elite types." He explained.

"You're forgetting why I'm here." I stated, glaring into his wide eyes forcefully.

"Ah- y-yeah, so the Captain wanted ta take one a y'all and get some answers. Your friend showed up 'fore you did." He cringed as if expecting me to just push him over the railing since he seemed finished.

"Where. Did. They. Take. Her?" I repeated my original question, on the verge of just giving up and actually throwing him over.

"I-I'll show ya." He volunteered, nodding as if in emphasis. I sighed and pulled him back before dropping him to the ground. He sighed in relief and let out a small grin as he got up, dusting himself off.

"How can so many know about us?" I asked, my voice still brooking no leniency. The man looked to me and smiled as if to himself, glancing down.

"There're lots a gossips on Omega. It's the heart a piracy and crime and all that." He answered. "Lots a nosy people." He muttered humorously. I had a feeling he was a simpleton to say the least, and it was pitiful to be honest. His dirty, messed up hair and torn, worn out clothing made him look like a homeless gimp. I almost felt sorry for him now that I realized he was probably actually a bottom feeder.

Soon, we got going, toward Darragh's hideout.

…

"And so the famous Captain decides to show herself. I'm honored." Darragh smiled, standing to greet me. Kate was at the table with him and some of the pirate captain's subordinates were close by as well. Why I wasn't getting shot at yet confused me to no end. And where the hell were the cops on this station? Weren't they supposed to stop me outside or something? Geez…

"Release Kate." I ordered, grounding myself as I flexed my fingers. Black Eye laughed, good and proper, no doubt getting a kick out of what I said. Once he calmed down, he looked down to me once more.

"Just what a hero would say!" he chuckled, sobering up. "This place hasn't seen one like you in a while. Come; join us. We have much to discuss." I furrowed my brows at that, confused at the man's strange behavior. I could've sworn he was different in the little game I watched my friend play on her phone.

I walked myself to his table where he and Kate were waiting though, ignoring the stares I was getting from the other occupants of the room. Sitting down, I looked to Black Eye in confusion, trying to keep myself from looking out of my element. Still, he smirked at me as if knowing something I didn't.

"I've been talking with your friend here and I've got a proposition for you." the pirate started, leaning toward me slightly. I raised a brow and glanced at the quiet Kate.

"Is that so?" I asked, looking back to the large man.

"Quite so. This little bitty has convinced me to retire. But there's a little snag we didn't think of earlier." I blinked, thinking to myself that it couldn't possibly be so easy. There had to be a catch somewhere.

"And what, exactly, is this… meeting… for?" I inquired, forcing my face to take on an inquisitive expression. Black Eye pointed at me and grinned mischievously, his eyes glittering dangerously. The sight made my stomach twist.

"I need a replacement. Someone's got to keep these knaves in place- and that takes someone tough. Special. Like the little hero in front of me here." I stuttered, failing to respond in a proper sentence, making the old man chuckle. "That's right, honeybun! You're my replacement. It's a good offer, too; plenty of people would murder for this opportunity. The only thing wrong with them is their personalities. They don't command respect and none of them have any charisma whatsoever. I've noticed you managed to get a nice crew so far- in no more than three weeks. Not to mention you've got two sides to ya." His explanation was only confusing me further.

"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing I looked lost. Black Eye leaned back in his chair, snapping his fingers. The asari behind him stepped forward, brandishing her Omni-tool. A video popped up and she stepped between me and Black Eye to show the both of us.

When it began playing, I saw myself hitting the scrawny guy I found against the railing. A few moments into it, I saw myself lighten up and then drop him to the ground. I was surprised by my own animosity all over again and saw Kate's eyes widen slightly as she watched as well. Once I followed the guy down the walkway enough to get out of range of the camera, the asari stopped the vid and stepped back to her place behind Black Eye.

"You see that? You weren't afraid of getting a little dirty to get some answers. But once you had them, you weren't enough of an animal to kill little Craig. You pass." At the man's smile, I upturned my palms in confusion.

"That was a test?" I demanded, slightly irritated over being spied on. Darragh laughed at me, slapping my back in humor. The sting was more than enough to smack the anger out of me.

"Of course it was! Life is a test, honeybun!" I really wish he'd stop calling me that. I swear this guy was different from the Darragh in the game. Or did Kate really say some crazy shit to get him softened up or something? Once he sobered up, he locked gazes with me once more.  
>"So, I've decided: you're going to be my replacement. Besides, you've got to make a living too. You've got a crew, you're a captain already and I'm sure you've got Aria looking down on you from her perch in Omega. You'll need someone on your side."<p>

"But pirates are the bad guys." I grumbled, crossing my arms as if to pout.

"We can't all be heroes, honeybun!" he chuckled, shaking his head. "With my gang at your back they can take care of the dark stuff if you're so inclined. We aren't weak and we've got plenty of contacts. Hell, you could change whatever you want in this gang- try and make us heroes too or something." The mirth in his voice told me he thought pigs would fly before it happened.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, raising a brow.

"If you want to live? No. I never said I wasn't an animal, kid. It would look bad if I just let you two waltz out of here. Of course, if you were to replace me…" he trailed off purposefully, giving me that conspiratorial smirk again.

"Fine. I'll do it." I stated, before I even knew what the hell to do. It wasn't like I had any choice, but damn! That old guy didn't leave any room for it, did he?

"I thought you'd take up the offer. You don't have to hang around too long but now that you're leader of this gang you'll need a few of its people on your ship. You know, to keep up tight communication and such." Darragh was already leaving me in the dust with all this planning. What the hell!

"What?" I tried, only to be interrupted.

"Craig, Allena and Enossa will join you on your ship."

"What?" both me and the asari behind him burst, confused. We glanced at each other before returning our gazes to the old pirate who laughed. Christ, he was getting a kick out of life.

"Allena here is a mercenary, but since I saved her life a while back we decided to make her a contract. I already told you the contract was for the leader of this gang, not me specifically. Little hero is your new boss. Besides, you two'll get along grand." I was starting to hate this guy. Allena only blew out a bitter smirk before walking off.  
>"Aw, no need to get so eager to see her ship!" he called after her, getting only the bird in return as the asari walked out of the room. I could've sworn I'd heard her name before too, but I couldn't place it.<p>

"Why them?" I demanded, turning back to the old man. He looked back to me then, sobered again for the moment.

"Allena's the best mercenary this side of the Terminus; she'll save your life more than once, I'm sure. Craig is a good communications and engineering expert so you'll need him." The old man leaned toward me again, whispering into my ear, "Might want to get him some new clothes though." I frowned and he leaned back, out of my bubble.  
>"Enossa can fix just about anything mechanical and keep it running long past its expiration date. Though, she tends to get attached to the vehicles she works on…" he said the last part more to himself than me.<p>

"I see…" I muttered, looking down.

"Anyway, you'd best get back to your own ship, honeybun. I'll need a day or so to get everything settled." He said, effectively dismissing me.

I stood with Kate and stepped away from the table half expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out from a corner and tell me I was just punk'd. As we descended the stairs and walked to the door though, nothing happened. It was rather anticlimactic from where I stood, but with what just happened, I was grateful for it. We were quiet as we started on our way back to the Exodus, thinking on what just went down. Kate must've done some serious talking with the old man to convince him to retire.

But pirates? I was going to be a pirate now?

I felt so used.

**A/N: Aww, poor Alexis. I hope she feels better next chapter when she meets these new arrivals officially.**


	16. So I Guess We're Pirates Now

**Liege Lord: I'm not sure if Alexis is happy it though… Oh well, she'll have more fun this way than if she were to join the Alliance (she's never been huge on authority figures telling her what to do). **

**BAMS: Yeah, I guess. At least it's original, eh? There is nothing but 'trying to be light side no matter what' fics around here. I wanted to show what the dark side of life could be- while still **_**trying **_**not to turn evil, you know?**

**Hopelessly Blue: *laughs* I may just quote that, HB! You almost made me blush too! XD I have to agree with your other comment too- if my boss was an asari, I would **_**certainly **_**pay attention. Warm fuzzies, huh? Me too. ;) I love you!**

**Lieutenant Paladine: Maybe… But we won't do **_**nothing**_**. We'll do lots of stuff. Like… well I don't know… stuff. ;)**

**A/N: NEW POLL! ANSWER! NAOW! (Not that I'll actually need it for a while... XP)  
><strong>

"_Pirates_? We can't have pirates on the Exodus!" Lucien burst, getting uncomfortably close.

"We can't _be _pirates, Lexi! They're mean!" Ike almost sniffed he looked so heartbroken.

"I thought we were supposed to be the good guys for once…" Tull muttered, sighing. Jilan was fidgeting with his hands and Sheva was almost tearing up. In fact, she got so emotional that she threw her arms around me, letting out a cry.

"Why, my Captain? It's so dangerous for you to get caught up in such happenings!" she cried into my shoulder, theatrical enough to make Allena roll her eyes.

"Sheva, as much as I hate this we have to!" I said, trying to comfort her. She only let out another wail, holding me tighter.

"Why do we _have _to, Lexi?" Joya asked, her arms as cross as she was.

"Look, all you need to know is this: we need some form of occupation out here. Bounties on our heads and reputation aside, we don't have to be the bad kind of pirates." I announced, hoping I was getting through to someone. Sheva sniffed but at least kept from crying again.

"How can we be _good _pirates?" Lucien asked. I smirked, rubbing Sheva's back as she finally calmed down, ignoring Alyssa's pout.

"We can waylay other 'bad guys' or liberate colonies from pirate and slaver control and gain trust or money as payment." Kate's surprising suggestions got me thinking on the possibilities-and opportunities-to being a pirate with no boss.

"I do like the sound of no red tape." Michaels drawled, scratching his chin in thought. I nodded in agreement, giving a few murmurs of positive leniencies finally.

"Don't forget the adventure." Ike piped up, smiling his goofy smile all over again. Such a puppy. Ayashe's smile got my attention then, and I looked over to her, seeing her stroke her chin in thought.

"And a harem of asari maidens for the Captain to do her every bidding-" at Allena's glare, Ayashe coughed, taking a step back. "I mean, to treat like queen and have tea with…" she muttered, looking away from Allena in innocence. I didn't miss Alyssa's blush or Sheva's tightening her grip on me, either.

"Anyway…" I began, breaking the short silence. "We're going to do the best we can. But for now…" I trailed off, hesitating only slightly. I really didn't want to be on the dark side of life but all I could hope for at that point was to just survive until Shepard showed up.  
>"…we're pirates." I stated finally, shockingly getting a cheer from the crew present. I guess Ayashe's harem comment got them in good spirits.<p>

"Now that that's settled, I can tell Darragh you're ready." Allena said, muttering in my ear and making me shiver. I wasn't so sure I liked the sound of that. "Until I get back I suggest you meet Craig and Enossa." She said, before striding out of the briefing room.

…

"Ya gotta pass go, bredda." Evander's voice caught me to blink in slight confusion as I strolled into Engineering. The man was usually bickering with someone on the third deck instead of here.

"Give me my money, man." So Izan was here too?

"I don't think so. It's my money now." Was that… Craig's voice? I finally turned the corner just in time to see Izan grab Craig's shirt and jerk him up.

"Give me. My money." The irritated turian stated, making Evander smirk. Craig put his arms up in surrender, smiling apologetically.

"Hey, it's just a game ya bug." He said, making Izan let out a hostile growl.

"Izan, put the pirate down." I ordered, making all three of them jump three feet in the air. They snapped their gazes to me and Izan instantly released his grip on Craig, causing him to hit the floor with a thud. I crossed my arms and raised a brow, showing my distaste of such a method.

"This guy's a pirate?" the turian asked, incredulous. I suppose he didn't like the idea of playing Monopoly (how it still existed, I had no idea) with a pirate.

"No wonder he stole Izan's money!" Evander grinned mockingly before letting out a belt of laughter, pointing at Izan's face. Said turian let out another growl of frustration and tackled Evander to the ground. Craig smiled up at me and came to my side without paying as much as a back look at the two wrestling companions.

"Ya wanna play too Captain?" he asked happily, still looking like the same grungy guy I met not two hours before. I hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, trying not to scrunch my nose at his smell. The poor guy probably hadn't taken a shower in weeks.

"Why don't you go freshen up in a shower? I'll send some new clothes to your quarters." I suggested, getting an excited grin from the man. Without warning, he hugged me tight and ran off before I could even respond. The smell of road kill was going to be in my nose for a week.

…

"I'm sorry but Captain Ivanova locked this room." Jill's surprisingly distressed tone caused me to raise a brow. No wonder Thea told me to come down to the Hangar before the new arrival blew a gasket. Enossa, apparently my new mechanic, was staring at the helpful VI-Bot as if she were about to shoot it. I approached slowly to make sure I wouldn't startle her too badly.

"Screw the Cap-!" I cleared my throat loudly, effectively cutting her sentence short and making her jump. She looked at me with wide eyes for what seemed like forever before blowing out a guilty chuckle. She looked pretty excitable for an asari, seeing as how the first impression was screwed up by her temper. Well, she was a pirate so who was I to judge?  
>"I mean, if you'd like to…" she trailed off, seeing my raised brow. I couldn't tell if she was going to pirate rape me or just pillage my pride. "-Open the doors! Right, open the doors. –if you want. Captain." The flustered woman coughed uncomfortably and looked off to the side as she blushed lightly. I wanted to laugh but then I also wanted to just…<p>

Nevermind.

"Jill, you can allow Enossa access; she's our new mechanic for the vehicles." I said, trying to get the awkwardness of the atmosphere to pass.

"Very well, Captain. You may enter." The cute little Bot announced, looking to Enossa. Before she replied, Jill opened the door and floated in without sparing a glance back.

I gestured for Enossa to enter first, and she did, me following behind. I wanted to see our vehicles up close anyway. As the lights inside the large hangar blinked on, I found myself, along with my asari companion, gaping at what lay inside. To my shock there was a black mako with the same symbol on my clothes on its side in crimson. The same went for the Hammerhead (this was more shocking seeing as how I thought it was Cerberus that made those- in the future no less) and the small dropship-like thing.

As we drew further into the large room, I grew more and more fearful that Enossa would burst out crying. She looked both excited and stunned as she looked around herself in apparent awe. I mean, sure, the vehicles looked awesome and futuristic but weren't pirates just supposed to cheer for no reason? Or yell?

The dropship thing took up the right side of the hangar in the mako and Hammerhead stood side by side on the left. In the back left were two expensive shuttles we could use for leisure and all. They too were black but the symbol was only on one of them. I still thought I'd seen the damn thing somewhere before but I couldn't place it- or its meaning. Honestly, that bothered me the most out the situation. I should look it up later.

"I've never seen so many beautiful machines in one place!" Enossa breathed, staring at the Hammerhead almost in worship. I blew out a smirk but said nothing. I had a feeling she'd be 'busy' for the next few hours at least, so I left her to her own devices.

…

It had been an hour or two since Allena left. I was sitting in the couch in my closet and staring out the window at the beautiful nebula outside Cartagena station.

"A pirate, huh?" I wondered quietly, staring blankly in thought. No wonder Samara wanted a room with a view; it was easier to think this way.

A sudden knock on my open door caught my attention and I looked over to see Allena smirking at me. She strutted over and sat at the couch across from mine with a knowing glitter in her gaze. We sat for a few moments in silence before I returned to peering out the window.

"You already sit like Aria, _Captain_. No wonder Darragh decided you'd be a good choice." I glanced to her once more, raising a brow.

"I do not sit like Aria. And I'm not a good choice." I rebuffed, seeing her roll her eyes.

"You keep telling yourself that." She muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, a little flustered over the way she kept looking at me.

"Don't worry about it just yet cupcake." She smirked, standing and turning away.

"I'm not a cupcake!" my outburst only caused her laugh as she strolled out of the room and out of my quarters. First it was honeybun and now it was cupcake? When was I going to catch a break? And a new nickname while I was at it? Seriously…

"_Captain, you have a new message on your terminal." _Thea suddenly announced, breaking me from my childish pouting.

"Stalker." I mumbled, getting up from the couch to leave the enormous closet fit for a pirate captain (ha ha very funny) and access my terminal. I still hadn't figured the damn thing out; all I could do was serf the extranet or send and receive messages. –Oh, and Darragh wasted no time in sending me a message full of asari/human porn. Ass.

"_I simply mean to keep you up to date." _The AI/mom replied, causing me to frown.

"Could you at least _pretend _you don't know what I'm saying when I mumble?" I asked rhetorically, sitting at my desk.

"_I was not programmed to 'pretend' anything, Captain. Please adapt." _I gaped at the ceiling for a few moments trying to process what she said.

"Did you just tell me to 'deal with it' in robot speak?" I demanded, balling my hands into confused/angry fists.

"_I am not a 'robot'." _Her almost indignant retort made me scowl. So she was going to be difficult, huh? Fine.

"Whatever." I muttered, turning back to my terminal. I accessed the message with a sigh, calming down. Maybe it would be something interesting for once.

_-Sender: Unknown_

_ This the new 'shroud captain' Darragh mentioned? You'll have to try harder than that to gain much attention out here in the Terminus. You don't know who I am, but I know who you are. You want to change that? Then get my attention with something even more impressive that taking over an old man's job.  
>A bunch of slavers have been raiding my men; here's the location of their base. Should be nearby if you're still hanging around Cartagena station.<em>

_Oh, and I suggest you act quickly; competition's tough._

I wasn't sure what or who it was exactly, but the style of the wording and such gave me the impression they were some other gang leader or influential-type.

"_Is something troubling you Captain?"_ Thea asked, her voice soft as always. It made me more annoyed since we just had a mini-fight and all.

"What are we here for Thea why were we, of all people, sent here, of all places? How is it that you know everything about us and what we have to do?" I questioned, hating how lost I felt. There was a small silence as my AI companion seemed to compute the right wording.

"_I do not know the answer to those first two. But the third it easily explained; I have observed you and your friends since arrived. This ship, this Exodus, only responds to you and accepts you as its captain and commander. Essentially… we need you."_ she answered.

"To do what?" I demanded, wanting to what purpose I had. Of course, if I was destined to be a pirate I would try to rock it- until I got caught and executed, obviously.

"_Captain this ship. Lead us. Our occupation or status in society is your choice."_ She replied, calm as ever. I sighed, letting out a huff of air.

"Fine then. I'll have to do this pirate thing I guess, for now. Until we're done recruiting though, it's fair game. Let's go crash a party." I smirked, gesturing to my mail.

"_That is hardly a 'party', Captain; slaver hideouts are most certainly on another end of the hypothetical spectrum_." She stated. I could almost hear the disapproving frown in her voice.

"Oh, come on! It's just a different type of party. Besides, slavers are asshole and I need to know who this is. Not to mention I want to go out with a 'bang' is I'm going to die anyway." I argued, once more gesturing to my terminal supposedly called 'private'. Thea was such a mom sometimes.  
>"And I am the Captain right? So I say we go." I stated, wanting a break from all of the recruiting we'd been doing.<p>

"_Very well, Captain. Our next destination is Helheim Station."_ Her statement got me thinking on home again. The station, Helheim, gave me a feeling of nostalgia, too, given I was partially of Nordic origins.

"Give me the lowdown, Thea." I said, leaning back in my chair to get comfortable. I knew Thea liked to tell me stuff, so this would no doubt take a while.

"_Helheim Station got its name from an old earthen culture that…"_


	17. Helheim The Space Station

**BAMS: What do you mean, when will Kerensky show up? He's been here since, like, the fourth chapter.**

**Vivian Uchiha: Aww, you're such an awesome sport! You know what? Just because of that I'm going to create and OC just for you. –You know, 'cause I'm a Paragon and all. Even though I'm a pirate now. Anyway, she'll probably be different and all but I will have some essential elements you yourself created. How's that? ^.^**

**Hopelessly Blue: You're quite welcome HB. Honestly, you're really funny- you could write a story yourself you know. Anyway, I find your poll choice interesting- simply because I believed you'd tell me to romance someone new or something. Not that I'm complaining; I was smitten with Liara for a time but Shepard swooped in and stole my heart for good. Either way, it works out. I wonder what everyone else will vote though. Cute dog translation there, as well. XP**

**Lieutenant Paladine: Who knows when he'll arrive? This chapter, next chapter… never? (I'm pulling for this chapter, FYI) XP And thank you for the compliments. I do try to keep a medium, non-plotholish-making story. XD**

**Liege Lord: Of course we have to try to be good! (If not awesomely paragon) Who'd **_**want **_**to be thrown into the ME universe only to be cast as evil characters or rotten eggs? I hate rotten eggs. **

**A/N: I can't believe I forgot to tell HB that I love her. I wonder if she noticed and made a face or got disappointed. *thinks about it for a moment* I kinda feel guilty… Um… **

"So… why are we hanging out in a bar full of evil people?" Ayashe asked, eying the surprisingly clean table we sat at apprehensively. It turns out Helheim station was a facility built and hidden specifically for the purpose of torture, interrogation, losing an identity, meeting of crimelords on neutral ground and eating ice cream. Seriously. You'd be surprised how many flavors they had there. Makes sense since experimentation went on as well. I guess.

"The head of this facility invited us to a torture session in such a polite way I couldn't refuse." I replied, turning my nose up at her just to look 'refined'. The woman smacked me in the arm and smirked before making a face herself. I chuckled back, feeling better even though we were just in a torture chamber.

The blood had gone everywhere and the screams were still bouncing around in my skull like dodge balls. I had to restrain a shudder that wanted to run through me at the memory. Not that Ayashe actually watched; she clung to my arm and hid her face in my neck the whole time like it was bedtime and I was supposed to make the scary monsters go away. I was glad for it too, because it saved me the inner turmoil of deciding whether to hug her out of slight fear as well.  
>The others had chosen to go to the bar and wait for us but by the time we'd gotten there Lucien was preoccupied with other things like bar games or trying and failing to hit on the dancers. As for Kate, she was at the bar trying to talk to the bartender. Joya was sitting next to Kate, glaring right at Lucien like lasers were coming out of her eyes. Not that he noticed; he was paying too much attention to the dancer smiling at him to notice anything else. Maybe she was asking where the bathroom was or something.<p>

"I recall it differently." Said woman stated, crossing her arms. I raised a brow.

"That so?" she nodded. "Then _you_ tell me what happened." I said. She poked me in the chest and leaned forward as if handing me a secret.

"She wrapped you around her finger with her charm and _forced _you to come here." she answered. I sighed, wishing it were the truth. It would've been easier if I'd come willingly, huh?

"You only have part of the story. See, what happened was…"

…

"_Well if it isn't the new boss of old Darragh's crew. It's a pleasure." An asari announced, coming toward me. She stopped not two feet away and I had to admit, I felt a little trapped. "My name is Aerya; I run this facility." She offered me her hand and I took it, expecting a regular handshake. What I got was a weird squeeze, hold and release. Of course, since she wasn't human I figured I'd ignore it._

_As Aerya turned to lead the way down the docks, I glanced back to see Ayashe's sour expression as she glared at the back of Aerya's head. Kate was unmoved as usual and Lucien had crossed his arms in a bit of a pout. Joya was just looking around the place with distaste like she was questioning herself as to why she came. Unfortunately, they were the only ones who volunteered to come. All of the scientists, understandably, stayed behind. So did the former 'followers' of Aria or the Alliance. Made sense since the former mercs could have enemies here or the former Alliance could just not want to be on a secret, hidden facility created specifically for dark purposes. _

_We soon came to a smallish room with windows making up the entire far wall. Approaching that wall, I saw a circular chamber with a table in the middle of it and a smaller table next to it holding a tray full of scary-looking tools. All in all, I'd guess the place was some kind of interrogation/torture chamber. Creepy. Aerya came to my side and gave me a smile that crept me out even more before turning to the others._

"_Would you like to watch what we do here, to those who do not listen to the rules?" she asked sweetly, apparently uncaring of the expressions on my companion's faces. Lucien swallowed but kept from saying anything, as did the others. I looked back down at the lower chamber and felt my palms twinge from seeing the sharp tools on the tray._

"_I'll stay for the… educational experience. Anyone who doesn't want to can go; I'll tell you about it." I said quietly, feeling Aerya's hand drawing circles on my shoulder. If that was supposed to make me want to stay she was doing it all wrong. Damn, this whole situation made me want my mom. And Shepard. He/she would say something awesome to defuse the situation or to inspire courage in the scared barely-adults in the horrible station that was Helheim. But mostly I wanted my mom._

"_I'll stay too." I looked back to see Ayashe step forward with her hand up. Her expression made me think she was volunteering to go on the table herself rather than watch whatever Aerya had planned._

"_I'm going to, uh… go to the bathroom 'cause I gotta go." Lucien said, offering a nonchalant smile that faltered. Still, he turned to the guard at the door who gestured for him to follow. Joya rolled her eyes and went after him saying she'll make sure he stays out of trouble. A moment later, Kate sighed and turned toward the door._

"_And I'll make sure both stay out of trouble. Don't take long." She said, before leaving altogether. I couldn't help but feel abandoned somehow. At least I had Ayashe…_

"_Bring in the prisoner." Aerya said into her comm, as quietly as possible. Well maybe they wouldn't torture the guy, because if he was a prisoner then it could just be an interrogation. I sound like I'm trying to convince myself don't I? Shit, even I know what that table's for and it's not pretty._

_The door in the chamber wall opened then and in came two guards, a scary-looking doctor and a mangy guy wearing little more than rags- probably the prisoner. Well obviously, since Aerya just said to bring in the prisoner and that guy looked like a prisoner so… nevermind. They wasted no time gagging the poor man and strapping him down to the table, ignoring his pre-torture screams of fear. I had to clench my teeth and my fists to keep from saying anything or even just wincing from his expression of complete horror. Somehow, this made me think of the Saw movies and, I don't know why, but Resident Evil. _

_God, I hope that guy doesn't turn into a zombie and eat me later…_

_I watched as the doctor picked up an exceptionally scary tool with a frown of disdain on her face. I couldn't see the rest of her face though because of the visor covering it. If she hated torturing people though then why did she do it? Looking closer, I found the reason: her ankle had a brace on it that blinked on and off like one of those little machines you put on people to make sure they don't escape or they'll explode. Her wrists were also bruised; she must've had cuffs of some kind on her before they brought her then. But still, why did they need to use a prisoner doctor to torture a prisoner? Couldn't they get their own actually-evil doctors or something? There were plenty of them in the stories and stuff right?_

_But seriously, there was something eerily familiar about- ?_

_..._

"So those circles she was making on your shoulder just creeped you out? Could've fooled me." Ayashe smirked when I frowned at her.

"Yeah, ha ha, make fun of the traumatized Captain." I sneered, getting a chuckle from the woman. Why did she always have to make fun of me? Jeez… "Ah, I still have a stomach ache too." I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. With how long the day felt I was surprised it was still early in the afternoon. After all, you'd think a torture session would be longer or I'd get roped into a tour too.

"You're not the only one." She said, looking around the bar.

"You didn't even watch." I drawled, my tone more caustic than I'd intended. Not that I could help it in the first place- I always sounded sarcastic or venomous. A lot of the time, I sounded more sarcastic the more I tried to sound sincere. It was a curse, really. Ayashe frowned at me, catching my attention again.

"I didn't have to watch it to know what they were doing to him!" she retorted. I smirked, seeing opportunity.

"Ooh, ruffled the orphan's feathers have I?" I said tauntingly. That one earned me a slap.

"I'm not an orphan!" she snapped, making me laugh at her adorable blush.

"Then why did the orphan just slap me?" I asked sweetly, getting another one to the other side of my face, this time with the back of her hand. I wasn't sure at this point whether to stop or say something one more time just to see where she'd slap me next. Probably with the other side of her hand again.

"I have parents!" Ayashe stated, gritting her teeth. I saw water in her eyes as her hand stayed in the air as if threatening to slap me again. My damned guilty conscious got the better of me then and I leaned back, not knowing whether I should comfort her or just leave her alone. I never was good at soothing people let alone comforting them and making them feel better. That was why I hid behind my sarcasm and aloof mask. Now that I thought about it, I remembered my father always saying it was my defense mechanism.

Before he died, anyway…

"Yeah. Your mom seemed like a nice lady." I said, deciding not to say something mean again. Maybe being a pirate was getting to me already; I know I never would've brought up the orphan subject with Ayashe before…

"Excuse me. Are you Captain Ivanova?" the sudden interruption caught my attention and Ayashe and I looked over to see a turian. He actually seemed like a nice guy, considering he had manners and he talked all courteous-like. Well, that or he just got laid and he was in a good mood or something.  
>"I need your help."<p>

**A/N: Ah, a mysterious turian on a horribly horrible space station that asks for help… I wonder what this means…**


	18. The Six Monarchs

**Vivian Uchiha: Well, I try. Still, tell me if you do want something to happen specifically or if I'm doing something wrong. **

**Lieutenant Paladine: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, man, I know you were all excited. It's been what, two months now? Damn, time flies when you're doing other things. Like getting into car crashes or sitting in the hospital all high on the painkillers. Even so, sorry. **

**Liege Lord: Thanks as always, my unmovable friend. Or so you think. Can you guess what'll happen next? ;)**

**Hopelessly Blue: Really? Seriously, HB? You put that whole thing up there for everyone to read? How am I supposed to ease the readers into it now? What the heck am I to do with your awesome historical flashback? Gaahh! My brain will cook itself before I figure out a way to fix it! … … Well… Maybe I could… Oh yes, that **_**would **_**work… Okay, nevermind, false alarm. I'm okay now. Really, I'm fine. But anyway, what the hell are you talking about? You're a better writer than I am! Sheesh, you need some appreciation in your life don't you? Well alright, then. I appreciate you, Marceline. Can I call you that? I mean, I thought that would help with the… the thingy… you know, that thing… Look, I'm just sayin' that… uh… *cough* Is it hot in here? I'm hot. I'll go get some air. (I think she likes you a little **_**too **_**much, HB. You know what she was doing this morning? Humming. She never does that. When I asked why, she said "I'm just in a good mood. Can't I be in a good mood without being interrogated?" So I looked at her computer screen and saw the review she'd gotten- from you, obviously. So let's hope she doesn't see that I typed this just now while she's downstairs getting a Dr. Pepper. ;) –From Corey)**

**CuHnadian: Too quickly? Bro, maybe you have a life but I don't. I'd give anything for something better than what I have. Honestly, you don't know what I've gone through and what I do every day. I really don't want to sound like an ass but since this is a self-insert it's me. My feelings. I'm trying to be as 'realistic' as possible for you guys but it's hard 'cause I gotta say what I'll say. As for the rushed pacing, I'm sorry if you feel like I'm going too fast. For everything to happen the way it needs to happen later on, I have to leave stuff out and get stuff in the beginning. Even so, I'll try to do better. Thanks.**

**A/N: Let's get going.**

"Help with what?" I asked, looking the turian up and down. He wore purple/black armor and his black tattoos were similar to Garrus' but they were spikier. If anything, he looked like the kind of guy who would steal your shirt from your back. Of course, there was that whole thing with not judging a book by its cover. Not that I liked judging people in the first place.

"I have a bit of a problem and you're the one who can help." He stated. I raised a brow.

"Just how is it that you know me let alone how I can help?" this was weird. Almost set up.

"Before you get suspicious, let me explain. You mind?" he asked, gesturing to the seat. I took a breath in slight hesitation but moved over so he could sit down. "I was referred to by a friend not too long ago to take part in a job. Some guy named Donovan Hauck stole something from his boss and he was charged with getting it back. Thing is, once the job started he got caught by Hauck's cronies. So I came here looking for another friend. Unfortunately she's not around anymore." He explained, making me frown in concentration. Donovan Hauck. The hell kind of a job was this? And was I supposed to believe him? I had a weird feeling about him and his story but he seemed pretty straightforward. From what I could see, anyway.

"Donovan Hauck?" Ayashe asked, pursing her lips.

"He's a rich asshole. An arrogant one too." I answered. "He has a thing for unattainable treasures and expensive, rather illegal, business practices." I answered, glancing to her. Shit, was I supposed to know that? Well since I was a pirate I might as well be known for my knowledge. Ha, get it? Known for knowledge…? No? Nevermind.

"You know him?" the turian asked. I leaned back, regarding him seriously.

"It's complicated." I stated, not wanting to say anything too out of place. Still, Ayashe seemed to think what I'd said was odd, from her expression. I felt a little guilty at it but telling anyone could have bad complications.  
>"The one I don't know though is you. What's your name?" I asked.<p>

"Damen Harks." He replied. "Moving on… Since I couldn't find my friend I was going to head back and contact some mercenary group here for help. See, I owe my friend something of a debt; I can't just leave him to rot in a jail. But I've heard of you. You're recruiting, right? I think we can help each other." Sheesh, this guy was getting ahead of himself.

"Wait a minute. I don't know what you want me to do yet, or if I should even help you. First off, tell me how you know me." I said, feeling my hypothetical feathers get ruffled.

"You don't know? Since you took over Black Eye's band and crew he sent messages to the other five leaders of the Terminus, letting them know. After that, the word just spread." He answered.

"Crap. You mean the Six Monarchs of the Terminus? Goddess, what did I get myself into?" Ayashe's expression told me just what I didn't want to know; these 'monarchs' were probably the types that liked power. If they knew I had unknowingly taken the seat of one of them they'd waste little time in running me over and taking everything Darragh gave me for themselves.

_Is that old man trying to get me killed?_

"And who exactly are these monarchs?" I inquired, not liking being in that dark.

"Well there's Aria, the queen of Omega, and Vido Santiago, Ganar Wrang and Jona Sederis; the leaders of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse." Damen answered, leaning his arms on the table.  
>"It's a bit of a debate but the Shadow Broker is also recognized since it's power and influence that govern the ranks of the so-called monarchy of the Terminus. And then there's Captain 'Black Eye' Darragh, a cold, ruthless old coot who knows entirely too much about the works of the galaxy. He may pose as a generic villain to the people of Cartagena station but he controls it and his contacts practically work the pulse of information- right next to Aria's sources. That alone got him the proverbial seat of the sixth monarch. He used to be one of the System Lords, actually. Either way, this isn't what you want to know, is it?" he said.<p>

"Just tell me what you want."

"Your help."

"I need specifics. Hanging around here isn't a hobby of mine."

"Fine then. Take me to the prison Hauck's men threw my friend in. Help me save him. And get all of us out. After that we still need to finish our job. But that's my problem to worry about. Do this for me and I'll give my money or my allegiance. You choose, it's all the same to me." he said. I took a breath, thinking about this rather unfortunate news. If I didn't know better Darragh set this up for some ulterior purpose.

_But what…?_

"Um… not to be a wet blanket but we came here to take care of our own business." Ayashe then looked to me, slightly worried. "Captain, we can't just drop everything now. That message you got could be-"

"What message?" Damen interrupted. He already looked ruffled. Ayashe slowly looked to him with a pointed glare. She must not like getting interrupted.

"None of your business, clicks-a-lot." She retorted before I could answer, making me smirk.

"Look, if you were called out maybe I can help. I know my way around Terminus codes." I sighed, feeling cornered. All my problems seemed to be coming close to a boiling point and I hadn't even gotten through my first real year of being out here.

"Someone's messing with a gang, or someone's men and they implied they wanted us to deal with it. The coordinates pointed us here." I said. Damen looked down at the table for a minute, seemingly thinking quite deeply.

"That could have something to do with the raids Donovan's men have been throwing lately. Since his heist six months ago he's gotten… what do you humans say? Too large for his pants? Either way, he thinks he can take over Aria's territory here just because she isn't around all of the time. Rumors say she's gotten angry enough to hire anyone willing to reign down on the guy." He muttered, sort of squinting in concentration.

"So…?" Ayashe frowned. Goodness, I hoped she wasn't going to hate this one too…

"So, our problems could be connected. Hauck's men have set up a base close to here. I'm not sure but I think they've gotten Aerya T'Loak into thinking the people they've caught are people against her. In so doing, she's locked them up until Hauck's men take them and sells them as slaves. That's why I'm here, and that's why you're here. Why not help each other?" he proposed, looking into my eyes intensely.

_Might as well put my life on the line. It isn't as if I have that whole sense of survival anyway._

"Fine then." I said, finally agreeing.

"What?" Ayashe stared at me in surprise and Damen stood as his mandibles clicked almost happily.

"Thanks. I'll meet you at these coordinates in an hour or so. Here's my number in case something happens." He stated, rapidly using his Omni-tool to send the information to mine. Good thing Omni-tools had local sending programming (think of it as Wi-Fi. If another Omni-tool is close by you can send information to it even without knowing its identification credentials or numbers.). Still, instead of an Omni-tool I had the Gauntlet so the sending and receiving process was uneven, given the wavelength patterns. Or whatever Thea said when she explained it.

How she knew about it was beyond me. Not that it wasn't obvious the systems would be different in the first place.

After Damen abruptly walked off, Ayashe turned to me with fiery eyes. "Goddess Captain, are you going to help everyone who asks?" she demanded, gripping her cup tightly in irritation. I guess she was still annoyed over my orphan comment earlier.

"His explanation just made enough sense for me to at least see what's up. If I'm any judge he can help whether he betrays us later or not." I replied, wanting to calm her down if only a small amount. She sighed heavily then and looked down.

"Whatever you say, _Captain_." She muttered, leaning back in the booth.

"Oh come on, don't be mad. I promise I'll take your side next time, okay?" I gave her one of my charming smiles, leaning toward her a little. She regarded me for a minute before snorting in humor and pushing my face away with her hand. This made me sit back up and wrinkle my nose, causing her to laugh.

"It's not that funny geez…" I muttered, feeling dejected, only fueling her laughter more.

A sudden slam caught our attention and we looked over to see Lucien and Ike sitting on the floor and laughing like idiots. Their chairs were beside them, indicating they'd fallen off in a fit of giggles. But then, the batarian leaning over them indicated he'd pushed them over. Or was about to stab them in the eye with a pencil.

"Your face was made for radio!" Lucien bellowed, still trying to catch his breath through the laughing.

"Yeah, and you're… um… you're ugly!" Ike giggled, losing himself.

"That's what I just said!" Lucien stated, still chortling like he'd inhaled laughing gas. The dancer Lucien had been staring at earlier was looking down at them worriedly, causing a thought to enter my distracted mind. I looked to Ayashe, temporarily forgetting the threat of the batarian, catching her attention.

"But wait, Aerya T'Loak?" I asked, confused. She looked to me blankly for a moment before blinking in recognition.

"Yeah, Aria's younger sister."

**A/N: Wow, talk about complications. Sorry it wasn't super funny today- I'll do better next time I promise. ;)**


	19. A Cryptic Plan for Sure

**Vivian Uchiha: You know, that could work pretty well. Either of those, actually. You/your character should come up in the next chapter or two if not this one, so don't worry, you won't have to wait too much longer. ;)**

**Lieutenant Paladine: I really am sorry for taking so long. In said act, I figured I could at least update relatively quickly. I am happy to see you're alright with Damen and his introduction so far. I'll keep trying to do him justice, so tell me if you want something else more or changed. Thanks! ^.^**

**Hopelessly Blue: *sniffs rather dramatically* I was just- I- it's just- I wanted to- nabuhnbbacdrmune… I wanted to be nice. Um… you can call me by my name anytime too. I get all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Not to sound mushy or anything… *coughs awkwardly and glances around the room* Anyway, I spelled Hauck's name the way I did because his horridly painfully tortuously fake Scottish accent grated against my eardrums like rusty steak knives and piercing nails on a chalkboard. (Run-on?) I don't have anything against the untrained skills or callous use of an accent of the voice actor himself but it does bother me that he even tried. Or that he was told to do so. Whatever the case, my inner Scotsman died a little listening to it. … I'm sorry; I didn't mean to get so dramatic there. *takes a breath* Moving on. …What? Corey? *goes back and reads message of last chapter* … GAAAHH! That…! That- that! AAHH! *Glares at older brother with disdain as he innocently eats his chips* (…What?) AAHHH! *proceeds to tackle brother to the ground***

**A/N: It's my birthday, everyone! Whoo! (I'm not actually that excited...) But still, it's my birthday! I know you don't really care. It's okay, I understand. I see how it is. Let me just shut up now.  
><strong>

"You could've jumped in anytime you know." Lucien muttered grumpily, holding his hand against the new black eye that batarian gave him. We were standing outside the bar at the moment, waiting for Kate to emerge from the fray we'd caused. Apparently, that batarian turned into batarian-s. His friends were with him and after the first punch was thrown, someone screamed 'Barfight!' almost happily.

Thus chaos ensued.

"I thought you could use a kick in the ass after letting yourself go so easily in a bar on a station known for torture and other illegal practices." I replied, seeing Kate make her way through the fighting crowd like a professional. When she was five feet from the door she literally did a ninja roll forward and vaulted out of the bar completely.

"It's not my fault Elana winked at me!" Lucien cried defensively, staring wide-eyed at my frown of distaste.

"Who?" Joya asked, squinting in that way that told you she was irritated.

"The dancer!" he snapped, leaning at her aggressively.

"Whatever." Joya muttered, rolling her eyes and looking away. Lucien went to step forward but I gripped his shoulder and pulled him back, getting his attention.

"Calm down. I've never seen you lose your head before and I don't need to now." I stated, staring at him seriously. He glared back for a moment but calmed, taking a breath. I released his shoulder, feeling him step back. Why had Lucien gotten so hostile so suddenly? Why had I been so callous toward Ayashe earlier?

Was this place, this energy getting to us already?

Or were we just that weak?

No. We'd been through worse before, for sure. But with that being said, there was no place I'd ever been that felt so… dark. So volatile. The feeling made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My senses had been on high alert all day, especially in that bar. Everywhere you turned, you felt like there was something just staring at you, pushing you down and making the air grow heavy, thick. It might've just been me, but this place was going to give me gray hair fast.

The feeling was comparable to walking in a volcano. The atmosphere is already poisonous as it sucks the life from you, but you just keep feeling like it'll blow any second. And it just gets worse the longer you're there.

"Yeah, sorry." Lucien apologized, rubbing the back of his head. He did that when he felt stressed.

"Let's just go man, I don't like this place." Joya said, glancing at Ike weirdly. He looked like he had a stomach ache and he was about to hurl any second. He saw me looking at him and let out a thick breath, obviously in pain.

"He punched me too hard." He complained. I gave him a sympathetic smile before contacting Thea on the comm.

"Hey Thea, there's been a change of plans. Gather everyone in the War Room in an hour please." I requested, scanning the surroundings as I began to walk forward. I wanted us to get back to the ship as soon as possible.

"_Of course Captain." _She replied, no doubt pleased with my talking to her politely. If she even got 'pleased' in the first place. I mean, I didn't even know if she was shackled or if she was programmed not to feel emotion or what. If anything she was Mom and Bossy Secretary to me. As irritating as she could be though, she was endearing just the way she was. The thought brought a revelation to my mind as well.

Where would we be if we didn't have her to keep us up?

"Frickin' AI…" I murmured, a slight smirk coming to my lips.

…

"... So that's the story. I need a team for each section of the plan laid out so that makes… five teams of three." I explained, glad that Allena and the others helped make the plan. Actually, most of the information and help came from Allena. You'd think she was some expert on Helheim station with the way she talked about it and what we could do to utilize its structures and stuff. Seriously.

"Jilan, why don't you and Dustil work with Kallithea? We need to know who these people are in order to deal with them correctly. Thea, they'll need your help too." I announced, inwardly coiling up. It wasn't as if anyone said anything about Thea yet but I was just waiting for something to come out.

"Yes Captain." They said, nodding in assent.

"Allena, I'll need you to head up team two. From what you said they'll be the ones under the most fire later on and I'll need a good leader for it." I said, looking to her for a moment. I was still hesitant about talking to her or even just looking at her straight on. I don't know what it was, but I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before. Her presence alone felt like she should be more of a crime boss than a mercenary in the first place.

"I'll take Kerensky, Stone and Herkus." She stated, not really leaving room for a negative. I just nodded, reminded of the trio's tenseness toward Allena. It made me wonder if they knew her from somewhere.

"I'll head team three." Michaels said, staring at me seriously. I nodded, figuring he could take care of it.

"Then take Izan and Craig with you." I said, seeing the other two perk up at hearing their names called. "Mels, I'll need you to go with Sheva and Castro; you'll act as an attachment to team three and head the first-aid."

"Do my best." He smiled, nodding excitedly. I only did so because he had mentioned he's taken such a class in his school days. With any luck he could handle it. The person I was most worried for was Sheva; she burned the coffee, breakfast and anything else she deemed worthy to cook on a daily basis. What would she do in battle?

"Praxis, make sure Lucien and Ike get to the med-bay." I said, seeing his nod. They may have looked okay but I knew they weren't in any condition to fight on such a large scale with the fight they were just in.

"We're fine!" Lucien burst, baring his teeth as he spoke. I gave him a deadpan look.

"You have one useable eye right now and Ike can barely stand. Don't make me make you go." I stated, staring right at him. He huffed in irritation and looked off to the side but let Praxis go ahead and lead him and Ike out of the room.  
>"Lastly, I'll need Kate and Ayashe with me for the main infiltration. I'm in your hands." I said finally, locking gazes with Allena. She may be scary and offish and slightly mean but I liked her. I knew she was trustworthy once you had her trust and friendship, as hard as it may be to acquire. I didn't have it yet but I hoped me giving her the trust of my life and safety would put it on the right track.<p>

This reminded me of when I first met Kate, too…

She nodded in response, seemingly understanding. Evander then put his hand up excitedly, looking as if he were about to wet his pants. I turned my gaze to him then and nodded my head up once to show he had my attention.

"I wanna fight too, Captain! Ya gotta let me in!" he almost yelled, obviously worried over my forgetting him. In actuality, I was going to give him potentially the most important job of all, if it went right.

"Don't worry; I've got a plan for you, Corey and Enossa too. Here's how everything's going to go down…"

**A/N: Horrible place to stop, I know, but I wanted to up the ante somehow. Whether I did it right or not is up to you. At least I got the suspense going though, right? ;)**


	20. True Horror

**Dorthandoster: Ha, yeah, thank you for that. My birthday is on the 12****th**** so since I uploaded it late the night before you weren't actually late at all. Yay!**

**Hopelessly Blue: Okay, before you say anything let me explain. It's my entire fault for not updating recently- I can't blame anyone else for that. But with all of the issues I've had to deal with I haven't had the time or motivation to do this. My mom had to actually come up and be the one to force me to even leave my bed in the mornings recently. So… well, all I can really say is that I'm sorry. Which is pathetic, I know. But at least I'm back, right? Now that that's been said, I hope you've been doing alright. I missed you and all. Please don't hit me.**

**A/N: I beg your forgiveness for taking so long, everyone; I promised I wasn't going to give up on my stories and I'm not but I've been an ass, I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again.**

Praxis was having a fairly nice day. He was cooking, as he liked to do, aboard a nice spaceship with one of the most- if not _the_ most- interesting crews he'd ever met. And trust him; he'd met many people on the Citadel and in his old adventures within the turian military.  
>Although everyone was getting ready for the infiltration of some prison with a turian named Damon something he was left simply to babysit two of the more 'goofy' crewmembers: Ike and Lucien.<p>

He was just finishing the meal he was asked to prepare for them in fact. Clicking his mandibles in a somewhat rhythmic tune, Praxis carried two food trays toward the med-bay. He felt little need to rush, after all. It wasn't as if his charges for the day were going to up and disappear in a smokescreen.

As the door to the med-bay opened Praxis caught sight of the medical drone hovering around the VI robot. It looked at him when he entered but said nothing. The stupid thing preferred to scan everyone upon entry instead.

When he looked to the medical beds Praxis paused.

They were empty. Lucien and Ike were gone.

"I swear by the Spirits if I find out they went after the Captain I will-!"

…

"This place is smaller than it seemed in the diagram." I muttered more to myself than anything as I stared upon the side entrance of the dark building. It was the size of a rather long, two-story mansion really. Quite small for an HQ housing anywhere between fifty and seventy-five men. Not including the prisoners they had chained up in the basement. Or that one dog out front.

"Maybe they like cramped spaces." Ayashe mused. Kate probably would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't so stiff.

"Hey you guys! Wait up!" I turned at the familiar voice and saw both Lucien and Ike running up. I mentally face-palmed. Of course they got away from Praxis; they had been the star escape artists back at the orphanage they used to live in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed as I jerked them forward and out of the sight of the guards patrolling around the building.

"That robot fixed my eye and Ike's feeling better so we thought we could help!" Lucien grinned.

He knew very well that I couldn't send them back from whence they came without alerting _someone_ so my best bet was to either make them stay where we were and be useless as before or take them with us and hope they didn't screw up the plan.

"Captain?" Ayashe asked.

I let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine." just before they began to cheer I grabbed their arms. "Don't even think about trying to show off; this isn't a game. We're about to infiltrate a base full of people that want to kill us. We're going to have to _kill_ in there. Alright?" I stressed this. They needed to understand.

Both of them stared at me for a few moments without speaking. I would have said something but Allena and Michaels called over the comm saying they were ready. I told them Lucien and Ike was with us so they wouldn't be surprised when they saw them in the group in the base. Needless to say, Allena was irritated by this. Michaels didn't say much to it.

Hopefully we weren't going in there just to get ourselves killed. I still had yet to meet Shepard.

…

"Ugh! This place stinks!" Lucien grumped, earning a sharp kick to the forehead from Kate.

"Shut up." She ordered.

"Lexi? Why are we in the vents?" Ike whispered to me. I was in the lead; he was behind me, Ayashe was behind him, Kate was behind her and Lucien was in the rear.

"Because it's the only way to sneak in without being seen. It's not like we've got Kasumi's magical sneaking skills." I murmured back, taking care to move at a methodical, quiet pace. We did need to hurry to get to the basement level in time to meet up with Damon by the cells but it would all be for naught if I let us get captured.

"But I thought people only did that in the movies." Ike wondered. I shrugged as best I could on all fours in one of the most cramped spaces I'd ever been in.

"Me too. But Allena thought it was our best bet since we haven't been in the infiltrating business for very long." I answered. "Besides, I feel like a spy."

Ike giggled in return but said nothing further.

"Where's Joya?" Lucien suddenly asked.

I blinked, realizing I had forgotten about her. "She said something about helping Jilan, Dustil and Kallithea. I don't think she wanted to step in this after the bar fight." Ayashe replied.

As we passed through the vents we soon came to a grated segment. It didn't seem very stable let alone able to conceal us, causing me some worry. If we got caught we were as good as dead. Taking painstaking care in being silent, I was forced to move at a slower pace. The grating went for about ten or fifteen feet ahead before turning around a corner.

"Heh hehehe…" I heard the creepy chuckle from someone in the room we were above. I looked down to see-

"Oh god." I closed my eyes in recoil. No. No, this wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

Daring to glance behind me I saw all of my companions staring down below us with paling faces and horrified expressions. Even Kate looked surprised.

Allena hadn't warned us about this.

"What the-!" Ayashe's shout was stopped short by Kate pressing a hand over her mouth. But the damage had already been done.

The 'busy' Krogan below us looked up, startled from his… pleasuring himself. When he saw us the grating gave way and we all crashed to the floor in front of him. His hand jerked once more as if to grab the shotgun next to him but he seemed to have forgotten his hand was otherwise occupied. Time slowed down. I watched on in horror as he let loose and released his fluids into the air.

Right at Ike's terrified face.

**A/N: I know this is a bad place to stop but this image has been in my head for too long. I'll make sure to update either tomorrow or the day after with the second, longer, part of this mission. The action starts then.**

**Don't forget to review or send me a PM if you want me to update faster!**


	21. A Strange Sort Of Fellow

**Hopelessly Blue: Yeah, I know what you mean. I actually got ketosis thanks in part to my being poor and having to give my food to my little brother in order to keep him healthy for going to school and all. Ah, such altruism is a fault of mine. Or curse. I am such a good big sister that now I look like I've been in some POW camp for six months. But enough of my pity party. I really don't mind all that much that you haven't seen Once Upon a Time. I would like for you to watch it since I got sucked into it even though it's dramatic as hell but I'm not going to force you or anything. Besides, I like my versions better. And thank you for the holiday wishes. You really should have been there. I was just hanging out with three of my friends but we had some fun. Mostly. My best friend had her boyfriend to kiss but her twin sister felt the need to use me for her New Year's kiss. Due to my lacking skills in any kind of human intimacy- or emotion for that matter- I ended up getting stiff and running off to the kitchen to eat my mom's special southern candy. But still, it would have been nice to have you there and all. I may have kissed you. **

**BAMS: BAMS! It's been so long, my friend! How have you been? Better, yes? I hope so. And yes, I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Hopefully I won't fall off the grid for so long again, eh?**

**A/N: So sorry for taking so long to update you guys; I have to replace my laptop's battery so it's been really hard to keep it on long enough to write up the next chapter. Anyway, here's the update I promised! Enjoy.**

"Save me Lucien!" Ike cried as the liquid flew through the air. His arms shot out to his side where Lucien was sitting stunned, and grabbed him. Ike heaved and shoved Lucien's face in front of his just in time to create a human shield.

In consequence, Lucien was slapped in the face with the hot, sticky and strange-colored fluid instead. He immediately began screaming, "It burns!" and rolled away. He furiously tried to wipe it away from his face but it got into his eyes and without a handkerchief he was left a wriggling mess of pained cries.

Kate was the first to come out of her surprise; she gripped her knife she'd strapped to her thigh and shot forward, outstretching her arm. She managed to catch his throat before he could grab his weapon or cry out for reinforcements. Blood spurted out from what was assumed to be his jugular vein, spraying it all over Kate's vest.

Her nose turned up slightly at the bright orange color but she said nothing before swiping the knife from his gurgling throat to clean it on her pant thigh.

I could only sit and stare, feeling the blood gone from my normally warm cheeks. My eyes were wide. "What I have seen…" I whispered finally. "Cannot be unseen."

"It BURNS!" Lucien cried once more, still rolling around on the floor. Ayashe came out of it as well and skittered away from the now-dead, still-naked Krogan to busy herself on helping him get the… ahem… stuff out.

She grabbed a sheet from the nearby bed and ripped it up to create a makeshift handkerchief and held him down to wipe at the smelly fluids. I looked away from the corpse to realize some of his blood got onto my shoe. I had never been squeamish- in fact I loved blood in a way- so I turned my eyes up to regard Kate instead. She looked down at me and slid her knife back into its sheath.

She offered me her hand; "Of all the things I expected…" she muttered with a bit of a frown.

I forced one of my masks on and slid a smile to my lips. "At least we didn't fall into a den of security guards."

She scowled but didn't reply. We both turned and I helped Ike off of the ground while he was still struggling to apologize to Lucien. "I'm sorry, Lu, it was just reflex- you've always saved me in bad situations so I just-"

"Save it, Ike!" Lucien snapped, giving Ayashe a hard time.

"Hold still!" she grumped.

Lucien continued however, ignoring her. "I just got a load to the face! And not from a regular guy- no, that's just too normal! It had to be a fucking _Krogan_! Did you SEE his junk? What the fuck did he put down there?!" he yelled. Ayashe shoved him back down hard enough to shut him up and finished wiping off his face. He said a quiet thanks to her and she responded in kind before throwing the dirtied cloth to the ground.

"We don't have much time left if we're going to make it to the rendezvous point on time." Kate interrupted the moment and gestured back up to the vents. "We can't climb back up; it's too much of a risk."

I peered at the locked door and took a moment to steel my nerves. After what just happened my body was pumped full of adrenaline. It had been a while since I'd been genuinely surprised by something. But then, something like this doesn't happen every day.

Lifting my pistol from its holster, I gripped it. I always felt better with a weapon in my hands. Maybe it was because my family had been military. Maybe it was because I had the blood of the Norse and Scots in me. I didn't really care as long as I could use the familiarity of the ability to kill within my hands to stay cool. After all, it had only been a half an hour and already the mission was going to shit.

"Get ready everyone." I said finally, getting their attention. They nodded and got out their own weapons just in case. I tapped the side of my gauntlet and immediately felt a small shock jump up from the device, through my body, to my inner ear causing me to wince slightly. It didn't hurt as much as it was unsettling. The technology seemed to be in more than just my arm. I hated it.  
>"I need an altered route, you guys. We've caught up in some trouble." I said, speaking to the Exodus team I assigned to support and communication.<p>

"_We saw the drop."_ Jilan, the slowest speaking salarian on the crew, replied. _"Unfortunately cannot send coordinates through shielded grid; defenses are not yet down."_

"Has Allena's team started already?" I inquired with some worry. They were supposed to be the ones to create a distraction at the front entrance where the guards were heaviest to provide breathing room for my team and Michaels' team. If they'd started already then that meant we would have to haul ass to the core room where they kept the prisoners. Otherwise we would take too long and possibly cost someone their life. On the upside we may be able to pass unnoticed for the most part save for the guards posted at the core room to keep the prisoners from getting any ideas.

"_Started five and a half minutes ago, Captain."_ Dustil answered. I cursed on the inside and mentally wished them luck.

"Alright." I breathed. "Talk me through it then- we'll just have to trust Allena and the others are enough of a distraction."

"_Very well."_ Kallithea said. _"Leave current position and head down left hall."_

"Roger that." I responded, gesturing to my companions for them to regroup and move out.

"_What?"_ the confused salarians asked. I forgot they probably didn't know human slang, let alone slang from the 21st century.

"I copy." I said. "I got you. I understand. It's a slang term."

"… _Roger… that, Captain."_ I smiled to myself at Dustil's awkward usage and nodded though I knew he couldn't see me. Kate took point and went to the doorway before looking back to me in question. I gestured to the left and she nodded, leading everyone out of the room.

I spared one last glance behind me for the Krogan we had caught unawares. It would definitely be an unforgettable first mission. Of that much I was certain.

…

Corey jogged through the streets of Helheim station feeling as out of his element as any sentient being possibly could. You would too if you had only been a delivery guy less than a month ago and were now running through the crowded darkness of the scariest place in the entire galaxy. Helheim station was something you tell to your children at night if you want them to have nightmares for six months. Hell, even Krogans generally avoided the place.

It was like Omega in a lot of ways, but also not. For example, scary, criminal types hung around. But Helheim wasn't trashy like Omega was. It wasn't built out of a giant chunk of rock anyway. It was the place you went to if you were the most dangerous assassin in your tier or a corrupt, high-ranking military official who wants to do some shifty business for a few days without getting caught. It was the very home of the black market. That said, Omega and Helheim were like sisters. In the same way Aerya and Aria were sisters.

So obviously Corey did not feel safe. The scary looks in everyone's eyes and the general intensity of the atmosphere would have broken him down into a shivering mess if he hadn't first been threatened by _Kate_ first. He would never know how that girl had any friends- considering how demonic her glare was when he first refused.

He just hoped the message he was carrying was important. He didn't appreciate becoming a courier after delivering food for a living for six years but he was the fastest. He could weave through crowds like nobody's business. With everything finally going for him, coming from pirates or not, he didn't want to screw it up like he always did.

So hopefully he could make it to Aerya T'Loak before he got shot, mugged and raped. Not necessarily in that order.

…

The prison cell was really just something formed from a spare room attached to the core room. There were eight prisoners in there, including a man named Steve Dickinson and a woman named Kasumi Gotto.

The man, Steve, was a strange sort of fellow. He had light brown hair cut in a short, relaxed, unkempt way. He let it fall where it wanted, and curl at the ends of his bangs. He wore glasses although he had long since fixed his vision problems. He kept them for other purposes. He was in his twenties and fit but not very muscled. He may have looked like a normal sort but the image was ruined as soon as he opened his mouth.

"They took my flower." Steve stated in a factual, neutral tone.

The woman, Kasumi, glanced at him. She wondered what was wrong with him. And how she could have been so stupid as to make a mistake in the middle of robbing Donovan Hock for her cheating, lying, leaving-when-you-need-him-to-save-your-ass-from-getting-captured bastard of a boyfriend. She cursed his very existence. Now that she thought of it, she wondered what she saw in him. Sure, he had been charming and funny and nice- at first- but as soon as he left her high and dry right when he got his mitts on the merchandise she found out the hard way only to trust people when they need you. Not the other way around. Asshole.

"You can get another one when we escape can't you?" Kasumi replied. She was, of course, already working on her plan. There had been some explosion at the front entrance that made most of the guards run off. Hopefully that guy's friend really was coming to save him. She'd be able to slip out even with her cloaking tech busted.

Steve regarded her with a blank expression. "Your limited mind cannot understand my suffering."

_Sheesh…_Kasumi thought, as she looked away. _This guy really likes his flowers._

"What's so special about your flower anyway?" Kasumi wondered.

Steve continued to stare, "My garden blew up. It was burned and my roses were stomped on. My daffodil is all I have left." He stated.

Kasumi grimaced. "Wow… that's… tough…" she really wasn't sure what to say.

"I'm over it." Steve replied emotionlessly.

Kasumi raised a brow though he couldn't see that with her hood up. "Right… I can tell." She muttered, albeit with some sarcasm.

She really needed to get out of there soon. Otherwise that Steve character might do something crazy. And while she may have appreciated the distraction it would cause, she didn't want to risk her own safety for a shot in the dark. Besides, she could escape on her own.

But then, where would the fun be in that?

**A/N: Huh. I wonder what this new character means. And why is he so weird? Oh yeah, and why is Kasumi hanging out in the worst station known to the galaxy? What am I planning, I wonder…?**


	22. Flower Angel

**BAMS: Yeah, sorry that it's been so long. I updated my other story too, if you didn't know. Ah, I have to say it! I missed you, ya know? I mean, it's just cool you haven't given up on me and all since I never update. Thanks for that.**

**Hopelessly Blue: I feel sorry for Lucien too- he hadn't been happy about it. I wouldn't have written that scene if it hadn't gotten stuck in my head. And yeah, I agree with you on the Kate thing. She's been through a lot when we were kids so she isn't as affected by killing as I was. Still, her Iaido lessons had to come in handy for drawing a knife right to the Krogan's jugular. I also plan on having Liselle come along or at least make a few appearances soon. Later, but still soon.**

**A/N: Seriously, if you guys want me to update faster you should review more. Or send me PMs to remind me. ****_Marceline_****.**

"How long are they going to take?!" Allena growled, lifting an enemy into the air that had Herkus pinned down.

As she fisted her hand, crushing the helpless man, Dustil answered over the comm, "_Experienced some difficulty; vent grating gave way. Now taking alternate route. Should not be long until they reach prisoners."_

Kerensky shot down a turian with a bullet to the forehead, "What's the estimated time?"

_"Three minutes to retrieval. Eight for extraction."_ Kallithea replied.

Herkus clicked his mandibles sharply and threw a grenade to take out three men behind the left side barrier in front of the entrance, "Tell them to hurry up! We don't have all day!"

_"Roger that."_ Jilan replied.

"What the Spirits does that mean?" Herkus snapped, dropping behind his crate to avoid another slew of concussive rounds.

"It's a human term." Kerensky called back, landing suppressor fire on the other side so Allena could stand and lift four of the enemies. As Herkus peeked out of cover and shot each one down he continued, "It means he understands."

Stone sniped one of the men arriving for the reinforcements and furrowed his brows, "How does a salarian know a human term?"

Kerensky only shrugged, "One of the others probably told him."

Allena dropped back down after sending a concussive wave to the other side and rolled her eyes. "Shut up and keep firing!" she ordered.

…

"What's a flower doing in a place like this?" I wondered, staring at the yellow petals of the flower that had sat on the desk before me before I picked it up. I wished my gauntlet wasn't in the way. I would be able to feel the softness of the petals then. It had been so long that I'd seen a flower that now that I was looking at one I realized how much I missed them.

"Who knows?" Lucien shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Ike (a lover of flowers and other plants) glared at him but said nothing. He was still cowed from getting yelled at. I would be too if Kate yelled at me. He and Lucien had always been together, even in their orphanage days, just like how I'd always been with Kate. It was understandable he was afraid to talk to Lucien after the stunt he pulled, even if it had been on reflex.

"We can scan it back on the ship if you're worried." Ayashe suggested.

I nodded and curled my gauntleted fingers around it. _"Allena's team having difficulty, Captain. Suggest you hurry."_ Jilan said suddenly through the comm.

Taking up my pistol in my free hand I nodded. "Let's go."

…

Just as they cleared another room, Michaels heard banging in the vent above them. He glanced up and saw the turian, Damen he remembered, jump down. He landed on the ground with some amount of grace and stood from his crouch.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." Michaels commented.

Damen's mandibles twitched, "I had to take a detour when your captain fell into some trouble. Instead of joining up with her team I decided to link with yours. You are going to the same place, right?"

Michaels nodded, "Yes. Let's get there before we're left behind. Move out!" he called to everyone, and they all got moving.

…

_"Just beyond next door. Four guards."_ Dustil stated, and I held up my fist to stop everyone.

With a nod to Lucien he grinned and pulled out a flash grenade Ayashe handed to him a few minutes before. I held up three fingers and silently counted down to one. At zero, Ayashe short-circuited the lock and forced the door open. Lucien threw in the flash and we all closed our eyes just in time to miss the brunt of the explosion.

Utilizing the opportunity we all rushed in. I crouched down to my knees and used my pistol Tull gave me to take down the disoriented guard at the cage/cell with a shot to the throat (I had aimed for his chest). Kate pulled out her knife and stabbed the sweet spot of the guard that had been right by the door we came in. Ayashe took down the last two guys that had sat at the table playing some game.

Ike had just rushed in after us and went to the cells with Lucien close behind. I saw the door on the right side of the room open and Michaels came in with his and Mels' teams. Damen was in the lead and held up his hand when we saw each other. I had almost shot him; I needed to calm down before I got more jumpy.

Looking into the cell I saw six people; one of them looked like Kasumi, which was confusing. If that was her then why was she here?

"Damen?" Kasumi asked as she looked up. So it was her.

Damen looked down at her in surprise while his Omni-tool hacked into the lock, "Kasumi? What are you doing here? I thought you already took off after the job went sour."

"You two know each other?" I asked in both confusion and curiosity.

Damen glanced back to me, "Kasumi was the friend I was going to find after Narren was captured. When I couldn't find her I figured she'd already gotten out."

Kasumi shook her head, "I was caught too, thanks to Keiji." I blinked. Wasn't Keiji that nice guy Kasumi loved in ME2 but ended up being dead and all? Why would he get her caught? He was a good guy.

_More evidence of an altered reality… If Keiji's rotten does that mean others will be good? Like Miranda being sensitive? Or Jack being nice? _

"That would be so weird…" I muttered at the lock finally came undone.

Shaking my head slightly to clear it I walked into the cell and undid the shackles for the prisoners with the help of Damen and the medical team. I was surprised in the back of my mind to see a vorcha at the back of the group. You didn't see many of them around in the first game- or at all, really- but I suppose since this was Helheim and vorcha were actually used as slaves in some places I shouldn't have been.

When I undid the vorcha's shackles someone tapped my shoulder. I looked back and saw the guy that had been sitting near Kasumi. "They took my daffodil." He stated. I blinked and remembered the flower I found back in what I assumed to be the break room.

"Is this it?" I asked as I slipped it from the inside of my jacket. I held the flower out to him and his eyes widened slightly. He took it from my hands almost reverently and examined it intensely as if looking for any damage.

When he looked back up he took my hand in both of his, still holding the flower. I blinked in confusion and leaned back a little when he leaned forward. "Tell me your name so that I may worship you."

I blinked again and furrowed my brows, leaning even further back. A hand at my shoulder alerted me to someone else, "He's been like that the entire time we've been in here. Just go with it." Kasumi murmured.

I looked back at the guy holding my hand, "Alexis." I managed, unsure. "I'm… Captain Alexis Ivanova."

The guy's face didn't move but his cheeks kind of got pink. I raised my brows and he finally responded, "A name fit for a flower angel." He stated. "I am Steven Dickinson, your grace. Please call me Steve."

"Wh- uh… okay…?" I asked more than said, knowing my face was utterly confused. I wasn't any kind of angel, let alone one for flowers. And the 'your grace' thing was weird. No wonder Kasumi told me to just go along with it. Someone like this was so estranged he probably had no idea.

Sheva finally came over and interrupted the strange moment. "Let's get you looked at." She smiled. I sent her an 'I love you right now' look as she led Steve out of the cell and she beamed at me in return.

_"Prisoners secure?"_ Kallithea asked as I bent down to slip my arms around the vorcha. He was either passed out or too weak to move. Hopefully it was the former. That is, if he wasn't one of those vicious, snarling vorcha you come across on Omega.

"Yeah." I replied. "We should be out of here in three minutes or so."

_"Roger that."_ Jilan seemed to be saying that a lot now that we told him and his brother what it meant. _"Will relay to Allena's team."_

**A/N: Bad place to stop, I know. But I should update again sometime this week (if I don't then send me a review or message to remind me) with the last part of this mission. **

**NEW POLL (For A Reality's Companion).**


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